MaMHA ECHO: Perinatal Case Conference Series

Maternal Mental Health Access (MaMHA) ECHO Series to Support Perinatal Mental Health Care

The MaMHA ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) series was a four-session CME-accredited* program for Washington State providers seeking to care for their perinatal patient's substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health. The series was presented by the Washington Maternal Mental Health Access (MaMHA) project with support through the state Department of Health and part of the broader MaMHA effort to decrease perinatal suicide risk and accidental opioid overdose..

The series was facilitated by a multidisciplinary team including UW Medicine perinatal psychiatrists and family medicine physicians. MaMHA ECHO provided didactic content on risk assessment and management of perinatal suicide and SUD in combination with in-depth case presentation presented by a community provider and group discussion.

The ECHO model used a virtual educational lecture series and patient case discussion to improve provider preparedness to treat patients and improve patient outcomes. 

The series provided access to:

  • UW specialists in perinatal and addiction psychiatry and quality improvement methods
  • Evidence-based strategies to treat perinatal mental health conditions and substance use
  • Feedback and recommendations on clinical practice change to improve patient outcomes 

MaMHA ECHO Webinar Series

 

 

 

Perinatal Suicide Risk Assessment

Speaker: Ian Bennett MD PhD, Depts of Family Medicine and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington

At the end of these webinars, participants will be able to:

  • Describe the risk factors associated with death by suicide in pregnancy and the year postpartum
  • Describe the importance of prompt follow-up with patients with risk of suicide
  • Assess the acute risk of self-harm using the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (CSSRS)
  • Review the process of iterative quality improvement to implement enhancements to suicide assessment and care

 

Screening and Initial Management of SUD in the Perinatal Population

Speaker: Nadejda Bespalova MD, Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington

At the end of these webinars, participants will be able to:

  • Implement improving screening and initial risk assessments for substance use among patients in the perinatal period
  • Identify patients in the perinatal period that should have access to and training in the use of Naloxone rescue kit
  • Understand treatment options for Opioid Use Disorder in the perinatal period

 

Perinatal Suicide Risk Treatment and Management

Speaker: Ian Bennett MD PhD, Depts of Family Medicine and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington

At the end of these webinars, participants will be able to:

  • Know how to response to a positive screen, at all screening levels
  • Identify the immediate internal actions and external resources for a positive screen
  • Identify the triggers and levels of response escalation and sending client to the hospital
  • Understand best practices for follow-up and expectations for progress after a positive screen
  • Plan and implement treatment and tracking during the sub-acute period after some level of severity

 

Challenges of Caring for Perinatal Patients with SUD

Speaker: Nadejda Bespalova MD, Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington

At the end of this webinar participants will be able to:

  • Describe at least one barrier in providing care for perinatal patients with SUDs within their practice/care system
  • Identify strategies to improve care coordination for perinatal patients with SUDs
  • Propose a practice change that could improve SUD outcomes within their practice setting

*CME Accreditation

​The University of Washington School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.​