Opioid Management For Primary Care Practitioners.

We are using ECHO to bring specialist knowledge and support in opioid management to Primary Care practitioners throughout Victoria. We aim to cover all aspects of opioid management in Primary Care, including prescription and illicit opioid misuse/abuse and addiction, opioids and addiction in chronic pain management, medication assisted treatments for opioid use disorder (MAT, MATOD, methadone, buprenorphine), overdose, regulations and opioid prescribing, trauma-informed care, dual-diagnosis.

ECHO means Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes. Project ECHO is a lifelong learning and guided practice model that revolutionises medical education and exponentially increases workforce capacity to provide best-practice specialty care and reduce health disparities.

The heart of the ECHO model is its hub-and-spoke knowledge-sharing networks, led by expert teams who use multi-point videoconferencing to conduct virtual clinics with community providers. In this way, primary care doctors, nurses, and other clinicians learn to provide excellent specialty care to patients in their own communities.

About the teleECHO sessions

teleECHO sessions are free to access. They are a blend of didactic and case-based learning, delivered during live video sessions and accessed via easily obtained teleconferencing software. The sessions are facilitated by our expert hub team and attended by participants from spoke sites all over Victoria. The sessions are muti-disciplinary in nature and are underpinned by an ‘All Teach, All Learn’ philosophy. Any health practitioner with an interest in opioid management is welcome to attend and take an active part in any session. Participants can also submit de-identified patient cases using our standard case-presentation template, for the hub team to consider for presentation at a session.

Registering and joining a session

You can join a session using the free video-conferencing software, Zoom on any computer or mobile device that is equpped with a webcamera and microphone (virtually all modern devices). You do not need a Zoom account to join a session.

First, register your interest by getting in touch with your local ECHO contact using the details found below. You’ll receive an introductory email with our Zoom session link.  If you haven’t used Zoom before, the first time you click the link, you may need to install some software. This is a very easy process and most computer and device platforms will do this for you the first time you try to connect via the provided Zoom link. You may be asked once or twice to allow your device to complete the installation. It is recommended that you complete this prior to your first session as the process does take a few minutes to run.

At any scheduled session time, just click the link again and you’ll join automatically. You can also save and access the session information from within the Zoom application if you prefer.

The Zoom software is very easy to install and intuitive to use but if you need some guidance, please see the official Zoom guide here or for local support, get in touch with your local ECHO contact. Details can be found below.

You can find out more about zoom here:
https://zoom.us/

Our specialist team

Our specialist team hub at St.Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, is led by the St.Vincent’s Department of Addiction Medicine and includes addiction medicine specialists, psychiatrists, specialist nurses and allied health.

Didactic curriculum

Each session includes a short didactic presentation. See the teleECHO calendar for the  topic being presented on particular dates. The didactic presentations are also available for download after each session.

Case presentation and discussion

Case presentations by participating GPs and other health practitioners are a cornerstone of the ECHO model. Presentations are always followed by an open Q&A and discussion, with takeaway recommendations by our specialist team.

To submit a case for presentation, please use the template link below. Ensure you complete all sections and that you completely de-identify the material.  Send completed submissions to echo@pabn.org.au

ECHO case presentation templates
Word format

Quality Improvement & Continuing Professional Development

RACGP Accredited Activity status has been applied for and QI&CPD points are expected to be available to participants on successful completion of activities.

Anticipated CPD points: Two Category 1 per session.

Past didactic topics

There's no substitute for attending an ECHO session, but here are downloadable copies of past didactic presentations, provided for personal learning.

• Buprenorphine pharmacology
• Methadone pharmacology
• Regulations and opioid prescribing
• Drug interactions with ORT
• Risk assessment in opioid-use-disorder
• Pregnancy and opioids
• Opioids in addiction and pain
• Substance use disorders and PTSD
• Long term effects of Opioids
• MATOD and acute pain management
• Gender differences in MATOD
• Naloxone
• Opioids and fitness to drive.
• Opioids and SBE
• MATOD and take-away doses
• Young people and opioids
• Substance use disorders and PTSD
• Substance use disorders and military PTSD
• Drug testing in treatment
• ORT and depression
• Long-acting buprenorphine injection