At The Care Collaborative, Stories Bring our Mission to Life
Sep 22, 2025
At The Care Collaborative, stories bring our mission to life. While numbers and data show the reach of our programs–more than 240 ECHOs and 35,000 eConsults–it’s the individual experiences that reveal the true impact of making expertise accessible across Colorado. Every provider we support has a story that illustrates why our work matters.
Here’s one story about how participation in an ECHO series enabled timely access to specialty expertise, which made all the difference for a patient in need of neurologic care.
ECHO Colorado's specialty care series gives providers direct access to specialty knowledge. During Access to Neurology: Collaboration in Neurologic Care, a participant shared a patient case on which Drs. Pelak and Korsmo provided guidance. Dr. Pelak and the participant then connected offline for further discussion, which resulted in the patient being referred to Dr. Pelak’s office. Dr. Pelak saw the patient and provided care all within the week before the next ECHO session.
An eConsult quickly resulted in a serious diagnosis for a nephrology patient with AL Amyloidosis–another example of how sharing knowledge improves lives.
An eConsult was submitted to nephrology for a patient with acute kidney injury. Recently discharged from the hospital, the patient had elevated creatinine levels that remained stable for six weeks but showed no improvement. The eConsult was answered on the same day, and the PCP was instructed to order additional labs. Within just one week, the patient was seen in person by nephrology, where light chains (proteins indicating certain medical conditions) were detected. A bone marrow biopsy ordered by the nephrologist confirmed AL Amyloidosis approximately one month after the eConsult. Recognizing the urgency, a hematology specialist was involved two weeks later to promptly begin treatment. Thanks to eConsults, diagnosis and intervention were completed within weeks and significantly impacted the patient outcome.
The Care Collaborative is breaking down system barriers to make healthcare more efficient and effective. Our mission to make expertise accessible encourages us to innovate ways to collaborate to solve healthcare challenges and ultimately improve care across the state.
Here’s one story about how participation in an ECHO series enabled timely access to specialty expertise, which made all the difference for a patient in need of neurologic care.
ECHO Colorado's specialty care series gives providers direct access to specialty knowledge. During Access to Neurology: Collaboration in Neurologic Care, a participant shared a patient case on which Drs. Pelak and Korsmo provided guidance. Dr. Pelak and the participant then connected offline for further discussion, which resulted in the patient being referred to Dr. Pelak’s office. Dr. Pelak saw the patient and provided care all within the week before the next ECHO session.
An eConsult quickly resulted in a serious diagnosis for a nephrology patient with AL Amyloidosis–another example of how sharing knowledge improves lives.
An eConsult was submitted to nephrology for a patient with acute kidney injury. Recently discharged from the hospital, the patient had elevated creatinine levels that remained stable for six weeks but showed no improvement. The eConsult was answered on the same day, and the PCP was instructed to order additional labs. Within just one week, the patient was seen in person by nephrology, where light chains (proteins indicating certain medical conditions) were detected. A bone marrow biopsy ordered by the nephrologist confirmed AL Amyloidosis approximately one month after the eConsult. Recognizing the urgency, a hematology specialist was involved two weeks later to promptly begin treatment. Thanks to eConsults, diagnosis and intervention were completed within weeks and significantly impacted the patient outcome.
The Care Collaborative is breaking down system barriers to make healthcare more efficient and effective. Our mission to make expertise accessible encourages us to innovate ways to collaborate to solve healthcare challenges and ultimately improve care across the state.