COVID-19 Project ECHO for Nursing Homes: A Patient-Centered, Randomized-Controlled Trial to Implement Infection Control and Quality-of-Life Best Practices

though facilities are required to have infection control staff, only 3 percent have taken a basic infection control course. Significant research has focused on infection control in the acute care setting. However, little is known about the implementation of practices and effective interventions in long-term care facilities. We propose an intervention utilizing Project ECHO, an evidence-based telehealth model, to connect Penn State University experts with remote nursing home staff and administrators to proactively support evidence-based infection control guideline implementation. Project ECHO uses case-based, collaborative learning to support discussion of learners’ challenges and barriers to guideline implementation. The model’s explosive growth to 240 institutions nationally positions ECHO for outstanding responsiveness in a pandemic. Our study seeks to answer the critical research question of how evidence-based infection control guidelines can be implemented effectively in nursing homes.