Chronic Lung Disease
1st and 3rd Mondays of each month from 8-9am EST
The WVCTSI Project ECHO Chronic Lung Disease program was launched on October 16, 2017, to expand access to pulmonary medicine expertise to rural healthcare providers. During bi-weekly sessions, attendees have the opportunity to present chronic lung disease cases to specialists and participate in didactics covering a variety of topics including the medical and benefits management of Black Lung Disease, the benefits and availability of pulmonary rehabilitation, and evidence-based guidelines in primary care practice for COPD and asthma.
WVCTSI Project ECHO has partnered with a pulmonary rehabilitation group for this ECHO project. Through generous funding from the Dorney-Koppel Foundation, pulmonary rehabilitation programs (PRP) were introduced in 2013 to two federally qualified health centers (Cabin Creek Health Systems and New River Health Association). Over the past several years, 5 additional sites were added, serving nearly 400 patients. Patients are referred by either primary care providers or pulmonologists, and patients with any chronic lung disease diagnosis (e.g., COPD, restrictive lung disease, pulmonary hypertension, cystic fibrosis, etc.) are accepted into the program. All sites adhere to the American Association for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) guidelines. The PRP program is 12 weeks in duration with twice weekly sessions held at the PRP site. A typical PR sessions includes 5-10 minutes of stretching exercises, 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (treadmill, bicycle, et.), 5-10 minutes of balance exercises, and 10-15 minutes of strength training. They have played an integral part in the CLD ECHO project by booking national guest speakers to present didactic topics as well as leading discussions on pulmonary rehabilitation.
Learning Objectives:
- Use the ECHO hub and spoke model to expand access to pulmonary medicine expertise located in WV academic medical centers to rural primary care providers.
- Adopt evidence-based guidelines in primary care practice, especially the GOLD guidelines for COPD and the NHLBI EP-3 guidelines for asthma.
- Access and provide resources for the medical and benefits management of Black Lung Disease.
- Increase patient awareness of the benefits and availability of pulmonary rehabilitation.