Best Practices for Point of Care Ultrasound: An Interdisciplinary Expert Consensus.
Publication/Presentation Date
1-1-2024
Abstract
Despite the growing use of point of care ultrasound (POCUS) in contemporary medical practice and the existence of clinical guidelines addressing its specific applications, there remains a lack of standardization and agreement on optimal practices for several areas of POCUS use. The Society of Point of Care Ultrasound (SPOCUS) formed a working group in 2022 to establish a set of recommended best practices for POCUS, applicable to clinicians regardless of their training, specialty, resource setting, or scope of practice. Using a three-round modified Delphi process, a multi-disciplinary panel of 22 POCUS experts based in the United States reached consensus on 57 statements in domains including: (1) The definition and clinical role of POCUS; (2) Training pathways; (3) Credentialing; (4) Cleaning and maintenance of POCUS devices; (5) Consent and education; (6) Security, storage, and sharing of POCUS studies; (7) Uploading, archiving, and reviewing POCUS studies; and (8) Documenting POCUS studies. The consensus statements are provided here. While not intended to establish a standard of care or supersede more targeted guidelines, this document may serve as a useful baseline to guide clinicians, leaders, and systems considering initiation or enhancement of POCUS programs.
Volume
9
Issue
1
First Page
95
Last Page
108
ISSN
2369-8543
Published In/Presented At
Oto, B., Baeten, R., Chen, L., Dalal, P., Dancel, R., Fox, S., Lange Iv, C. W., Baston, C., Bornemann, P., Dugar, S., Goldsmith, A., Herbst, M. K., Kirkpatrick, J. N., Koratala, A., Lanspa, M. J., Lobo, V., Nomura, J. T., Pustavoitau, A., Senussi, M. H., Sorrell, V. L., … Sarwal, A. (2024). Best Practices for Point of Care Ultrasound: An Interdisciplinary Expert Consensus. POCUS journal, 9(1), 95–108. https://doi.org/10.24908/pocus.v9i1.17240
Disciplines
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
PubMedID
38681157
Department(s)
Administration and Leadership
Document Type
Article