When Brad Martin began working for the University of Idaho School of Health and Medical Professions, he was looking for likeminded partners to work together on programs and initiatives that would serve the state.

“Once I realized that the mission was improving healthcare across Idaho, I knew this was something I could get behind,” said Martin, who joined the U of I after a 26-year Army career.

Project ECHO was the first initiative Martin worked on. ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) links healthcare professionals with specialist teams through free, live virtual sessions, where providers participate in an educational session and then present real patient cases getting expert guidance they can apply in their own practices. The goal was to bring the national program to Idaho.

The Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health became the first donor to support ECHO Idaho’s healthcare programming, which launched in 2018. Since then, the program has trained more than 6,000 healthcare professionals on critical issues facing their patients and communities.

“The Blue Cross Foundation helped launch something that now reaches healthcare providers in every corner of Idaho,” Martin said. “That’s the magic of what the Foundation’s support made possible — connecting providers across Idaho so they can help each other improve patient care. Through the Foundation’s support, we are now also able to offer this same programming to K-12 Educators across the state of Idaho.”

Martin and the University of Idaho also have placed a strong focus on rural Idaho, where access to care is more difficult. The Foundation has provided scholarships to medical students who participate in the Rural Underserved Opportunity Program that gives medical students hands-on experience by placing them in rural communities for the summer, working alongside local providers and helping care for patients.

“Students come back from their rural rotations and realize they can have a much bigger impact there than they ever thought possible,” he said.

Thank you, Brad, for your partnership and willingness to work in rural areas of our state to improve access to healthcare.