ESPANOLA, N.M. — The heart of an unborn child beat strong and steady through an amplified monitor, as physician Leslie Hayes examined a pregnant 40-year-old who recently was weaned from heroin with help from anti-craving medication.
Hayes and her colleagues treat more than 200 patients for drug-use disorders involving heroin and prescription opioid pain medication at a rural clinic in New Mexico’s Espanola Valley, where rates of opioid addiction and mortality are among the nation’s highest.
Hayes’ ability to effectively treat opioid addiction with the medication buprenorphine, which blocks cravings and withdrawal symptoms, would not be possible without years of regular videoconferences with specialists at a major medical center in Albuquerque under a program known as Project ECHO.
The model is being tapped by federal officials now that President Barack Obama has signed legislation aimed at improving patient access to specialized treatments for a variety of diseases and complex conditions, from HIV and diabetes to bone ailments associated with osteoporosis.
Project ECHO’s long-distance training for physicians, their assistants and nurse practitioners mimics the mentoring that interns and residents receive at elite urban hospitals.
Sanjeev Arora, Project ECHO’s founder, came up with the concept in 2003 when he realized most New Mexicans with hepatitis C were being left without proven treatments, often leading to liver failure and premature death.
His training model has expanded to 57 medical conditions, while Arora sees a unique opportunity to contain the nation’s epidemic of opioid addiction. In 2015, more than 15,000 people died from overdoses involving prescription opioids, while many prescription addicts have transitioned to cheaper heroin.
“There are very few doctors in the country right now to match the scale of the problem,” Arora said.
