Project ECHO Brings Pain Expertise to Rural Docs

Rural areas typically are underserved by pain specialists, so primary care doctors may be on their own when caring for patients with chronic pain or may have to refer patients long distances for a pain consultation. To address this problem in New Mexico, doctors at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque created a telementoring program in 2009 called Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) Chronic Pain. Project ECHO Chronic Pain Program is co-directed by Joanna G. Katzman, MD, a neurologist, and George D. Comerci, Jr., MD. Dr. Katzman, Director of the UNM Pain Center, spearheaded creation of the program “as a way to leverage scarce pain resources for primary care providers working in rural and underserved areas” where their patients had to wait many months for a specialty pain consultation. Click here to read the full article by Jody Charnow, published September 5th.