Behavioral Health in Primary Care
Led by an interdisciplinary panel of mental health experts specializing in family medicine, social work, psychiatry, psychology and pharmacy, ECHO Idaho helps participants in this series learn best practices for treating common mental health conditions and connect with peers from around the state to discuss what really works in complex whole-patient care. Hour-long, virtual sessions are convenient, engaging, and immediately applicable to your practice.
ECHO Idaho Promotes Behavioral Health Education
About 80 percent of family doctors’ patients will have some sort of psychological or psychiatric condition, according to Andrew Baron, MD.
“You can’t ignore it. It’s there. They’re your patient, so let’s figure out how we can help this patient,” he said. “In the public, mental health is everywhere. There are very few families that have not been touched by some sort of mental health or substance abuse disorder. It affects all of us.”
Baron is the chief medical officer at Terry Reilly Health Services, and an active member of Project ECHO Idaho.
He said Project ECHO Idaho is a chance for healthcare providers across the state to honor their Hippocratic oath, and in his own community health center he encourages all his physicians to participate. Through continued medical education, these providers improve the care patients in Idaho are going to receive.
And it’s convenient to participate.
“I look forward to participating in Project ECHO. I sit down. I eat my lunch. I turn on my computer. I see everyone’s face on the screen in the room where the facilitators are and where we do a didactic session, and we learn about a particular issue or condition. Then we do case discussions,” Baron said.
For Baron, it provides an outlet to discuss complicated cases where he’s not sure what to do next. In a safe setting, he and others around the state have the opportunity to discuss the appropriate course of action for real-world conditions.
But it’s more than an opportunity for medical education; it’s ultimately a support network by doctors for patients.
To view session recordings for this series, please visit ECHO Idaho's YouTube channel.
Noon to 1 p.m. Mountain time, first and third Wednesdays of the month.
ECHO Idaho's full series schedule is available here.
The target audience is primary care providers (MD, DO, PA, NP, RN, etc.), but all clinicians and behavioral health specialists are welcome.
Participation in ECHO Idaho is free.
Please register here for the ongoing sessions.
Once you register, you’ll receive convenient, day-of Zoom access directly to your inbox – join us as your schedule allows.
- No-Cost Accredited Continuing Education: ECHO Idaho offers free accredited continuing education credits (CE). CE credit is available for participating in live sessions only, not for watching recorded sessions (unless otherwise indicated). To learn more about the University of Idaho, WWAMI’s continuing education accreditation and how to claim CE, visit our CE webpage.
- Professional Development: Participants gain new skills and competencies for managing patients.
- Creating Community: Clinician teams can increase professional satisfaction and decrease isolation, thus creating a sense of community.
- Increased Patient Satisfaction: Patients can continue to work with their trusted clinician instead of traveling long distances to be seen by a specialist.
- Improved Quality of Care: Health care professionals who participate in ECHO increase their knowledge and self-efficacy.
ECHO Idaho is led by the University of Idaho and the WWAMI Medical Education Program. ECHO Idaho’s Behavioral Health in Primary Care Program is also supported in part under grant number SM081387 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The views, policies and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAMHSA or HHS.