by Ashleigh Sanchez
Daily Lobo
A team of doctors and nurses at UNM Hospital has been improving health care in rural and underserved populations of New Mexico for the last four years.
And their efforts may soon earn them a $5 million reward.
UNM"s team is a finalist in a global competition for ways to change and improve health care, said Wesley Pak, who runs the communication systems and technology for Project ECHO.
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"The competition includes top schools and other organizations and involves how people transform health care with innovative ideas," Pak said.
Project ECHO is a program that assists doctors and nurses in rural communities in New Mexico, such as Roswell, said Sanjeev Arora, vice chairman of clinical affairs at UNM Hospital.
The specialists at UNM Hospital use video and audio conferences to communicate with doctors in those areas and help cure diseases, Arora said.
Of the 306 entries from 27 countries, UNM stands among the likes of Johns Hopkins, Stanford, UCLA and Henry Ford Hospital as it competes for the grand prize, Pak said.
A panel of judges selected the finalists, but the winner will be chosen online, he said.
"Anyone can vote, and we just need as many votes as possible," Pak said.
Go to Changemakers.net/en-us/competition/disruptive and click the register icon to vote before the Wednesday deadline.
The top three finalists will be announced on the Web site on Thursday, Pak said.
Each will receive $5,000, and one group will be chosen of those three to receive up to $5 million, he said.
Project ECHO focuses on hepatitis C, cardiovascular disease, mental illness, diabetes and other chronic conditions that are prevalent but under-treated, Arora said.
Doctors and nurses from UNM Hospital have conferences on diseases and treatments with multiple communities simultaneously, using satellite and Internet to host video and audio communication, Arora said.
"This is a massive team effort," she said. "The conference involves specific teams of doctors and specialist for specific areas."
Conferences are held weekly, she said.
E-mail, faxes and phone calls are used to provide a constant line of support to member communities, Pak said.
Rural populations are not the only ones to benefit from Project ECHO. Eight prisons in the New Mexico Department of Corrections are also members, Arora said.
She said the team gets feedback from its members and uses that information to improve treatments.
"The program involves case-based learning to educate both ways," she said. "The education is not unilateral."
