Making History: First ECHO Hub in China

Making History: First ECHO Hub in China

This past summer, in June 2023, members of the ECHO-Chicago team traveled to Shanghai, China to kick off what is a historic partnership between Tongji University School of Medicine (TUSM) and the University of Chicago Medicine. Funded by the Cyrus Tang Foundation, this partnership is working to establish the first ever ECHO Hub in China.

“It is an honor to be working with Chicago’s sister city, Shanghai, to launch for the very first time Project ECHO in China. Our two institutions, University of Chicago Medicine, and Tongji University School of Medicine (TUSM), have much in common, including a deep commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of those living in our cities and elsewhere. We are working together, with major funding from the Cyrus Tang Foundation to develop the ECHO learning platform in China. Shanghai’s primary care system, like that in Chicago, can meet the health needs of a wider population of people by applying the ECHO-Chicago training model to uptrain community-based clinicians to take care of the expanding needs of their patients.”   – Daniel Johnson, MD  (ECHO-Chicago Director)

China is facing health challenges similar to other high-income countries – an increasing demand for high-quality primary health care coupled with skyrocketing healthcare expenditures. This demand has been fueled by a confluence of factors including an aging population, economic shifts that have resulted in new risk factors for the population (e.g., more sedentary lifestyle, stress, obesity, etc.), higher morbidity and mortality due to noncommunicable diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disease including hypertension, cancer, diabetes, etc.), and changes in environmental factors (e.g., air quality). 1

The goal of the project is to improve community health outcomes through the use of the ECHO model. Evidence from ECHO programs around the world, including ECHO-Chicago, have shown that ECHO training increases provider knowledge, expands provider capacity to provide care, enhances provider self-efficacy, increases provider job satisfaction, and empowers providers to treat chronic complex diseases. 2-5 The project is currently set to be a 3-year demonstration project, and, if successful, will lay the groundwork for replication and scaling of the ECHO model across China through ECHO hubs led and operated by Chinese institutions.

“We have worked to promote family medicine and primary care system in Shanghai for over 14 years, trying to do our effort for an effective and sustainable health care system in China. Tongji University School of Medicine (TUSM) is the first academic institution in China to establish medical school affiliated community health centers (CHC). ECHO-Chicago is well experienced in helping organizations around the world to design and implement projects to meet local needs, especially in primary care. We fully expect to work with this world-renowned team, and we believe this collaboration will truly enhance our CHCs quality, which would provide better service for the Shanghai community and people.”    – Jialin C. Zheng, MD (Dean for TUSM)

During their time in China, the ECHO-Chicago team had the opportunity to visit local hospitals and community health centers to observe clinic flow and learn more about traditional Chinese medicine. 

We are thrilled to be spearheading this with TUSM and grateful to the Cyrus Tang Foundation for funding this project. You can read more about the ECHO-China project here. Be the first to know about project news and updates by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on socials.

1. World Bank and World Health Organization. 2019. Healthy China: Deepening Health Reform in China: Building High-Quality and Value-Based Service Delivery. Washington, DC: World Bank.
2. Arora S, Kalishman S, Thornton K, et al. Expanding access to hepatitis C virus treatment—Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) project: Disruptive innovation in specialty care. Hepatology. 2010;52(3):1124-1133.
3. Masi C, Hamlish T, Davis A, et al. Using an Established Telehealth Model to Train Urban Primary Care Providers on Hypertension Management. J Clin Hypertens. 2012;14(1):45-50.
4. Arora S, Thornton K, Murata G, et al. Outcomes of Hepatitis C Treatment by Primary Care Providers. N Engl J Med. 2011;364(23).
5. Furlan AD, Zhao J, Voth J, et al. Evaluation of an innovative tele-education intervention in chronic pain management for primary care clinicians practicing in underserved areas. J Telemed Telecare. 2019; 25(8): 484-492.
6. Tilmon SJ, Lee KK, Gower PA, et al. Impact of an Urban Project ECHO: Safety-Net Clinician Self-Efficacy Across Conditions. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2023;64(4):535-542. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2022.11.004