A new digital case-based educational program Orthogeriatrics TeleECHO, a strategy to improve the care of fragility fracture patients.

Abstract

To develop and conduct an interactive case-based virtual TeleECHO program to expand the knowledge of healthcare professionals in the field of orthogeriatrics. The project included twelve 90-min sessions for physicians and healthcare managers. Each session was based on real clinical cases discussed by the multidisciplinary group of faculty. The efficacy of the project was assessed using questionnaires. The attendance of individual sessions ranged from 129 to 224 with the total number of participants 829; 25% of participants were from remote rural regions. A survey conducted at the beginning of the project showed insufficient knowledge and ability to apply the concepts of orthogeriatrics. A final questionnaire showed that 74% of respondents participated in most sessions, with 94% wishing to continue participating in further sessions. There was a statistically significant overall improvement in confidence of caring for fragility fracture patients with an effect size of 0.75 (p<0.001). The proportion of responders who were able to apply their new knowledge in clinical practice shortly after TeleECHO showed a substantial increase (p<0.0001). The Orthogeriatrics TeleECHO program was effective in changing perceptions and self-confidence of the participants, and applying knowledge acquired to patient care. This model of learning could be applied in other countries in other languages to improve post-fracture care worldwide.