How are field catalysts improving health care around the world?

Project ECHO partnered with the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) to convene a team of leaders across health care, philanthropy, and government to discuss the role of field catalysts in transforming health care systems.

Eight key learning points emerged from Field Catalysts: The Missing Link in Tackling Healthcare's Biggest Challenge, our roundtable discussion held on the margins of the Skoll Foundation 's Skoll World Forum.

1. Field catalysts help organizations scale their impact.

"They help create coalitions and orchestrate systems change." Emma Nothmann, roundtable moderator, partner at The Bridgespan Group

Project ECHO, a field catalyst, provides organizations with a tool for improving workforce capacity and collaborating across networks: the ECHO Model. In the health care sector, teams enhance their medical skills through virtual mentorship and training, resulting in the scaling of their organizations.

2. Health care organizations scale their impact through peer-to-peer learning.

“Experts alone cannot solve the problems.” Dr. Sanjeev Arora , roundtable speaker, founder and executive director of Project ECHO

Peer-to-peer learning is a key tool for scaling impact. To address community health needs or crises, health care providers turn to each other for knowledge and insights instead of relying on external experts. Through the ECHO Model, health care teams join virtual learning networks to access and disseminate medical knowledge

3. Local communities drive and implement health care solutions.

"We need a multidisciplinary approach and a local context for scaling.” Nicola Willis , roundtable speaker, executive director of Zvandiri

Scaling impact works when health care training is culturally relevant and local communities drive and implement solutions. Nicola Willis , ECHO partner and executive director of Zvandiri , attributes her team’s success to training and strategies informed by localized community knowledge.

4. Flexible, long-term funding enables the scaling of health interventions.

“Money is needed to catalyze investments." Kyra Constanze Pauly , roundtable speaker, vice president & managing director of the Bayer Foundation

Funding is most effective when directed toward both the delivery of services and the required infrastructure for services — knowledge-sharing platforms, digital tools for data collection and tracking, and ongoing support for partners.

5. Successful partnerships are founded on trust.

"ECHO provided the trust we needed to become changemakers.” Dr. Nneka Mobisson , roundtable audience member, chief executive officer of mymdoc

Shared responsibility and long-term relationships enhance learning and scaling. ECHO partners, for instance, bridge gaps between sectors, cross-collaborate, and problem solve by joining trusted virtual learning networks.

6. Structural barriers are a challenge to scaling impact.

Organizations face funding, policy, and infrastructure setbacks when attempting to scale. Field catalysts help organizations overcome these barriers by providing resources for policy change and systems integration.

7. Evidence is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of scaling models.

"It’s critical to bring field data to governments and make the investment case.” Roundtable audience member from the United Nations Foundation

Organizations use data to inform decision-making and share insights with stakeholders. Nicola Willis, ECHO partner, highlighted how her team tracked success through the iECHO platform. ECHO partners and participants use the iECHO virtual platform to manage ECHO programs, join communities of practice, enhance their knowledge through collaborative learning, and connect with subject matter experts from around the world.

8. Scaling impact must be sustainable and long-term.

Field catalysts can help organizations ensure both scalability and sustainability by creating frameworks that can be maintained by governments and local communities.

Project ECHO acts as a field catalyst to help local leaders and organizations scale their impact with speed, scale, lower cost, and greater impact. Learn more about our work on our website: https://projectecho.unm.edu/.

We’d like to thank the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) for their partnership and support in hosting the roundtable discussion and developing the conversation highlights.