Best Practices for Point of Care Ultrasound: An Interdisciplinary Expert Consensus

Brandon Oto¹, Robert Baeten², Leon Chen³, Puja Dalal⁴, Ria Dancel⁵, Steven Fox⁶, Carl William Lange Iv⁷, Cameron Baston⁸, Paul Bornemann⁹, Siddharth Dugar¹⁰, Andrew Goldsmith¹¹, Meghan Kelly Herbst¹², James N Kirkpatrick¹³, Abhilash Koratala¹⁴, Michael J Lanspa¹⁵, Viveta Lobo¹⁶, Jason T Nomura¹⁷, Aliaksei Pustavoitau¹⁸, Mourad H Senussi¹⁹, Vincent L Sorrell²⁰, Frances Mae West²¹, Aarti Sarwal²²

Affiliations

¹ Bridgeport Hospital, Yale New Haven Health Bridgeport, CT USA.
² Piedmont Heart Institute Atlanta , GA USA.
³ Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY USA.
⁴ Novant Health Cornelius, NC USA.
⁵ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC USA.
⁶ University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL USA.
⁷ Phelps Health Rolla, MO USA.
⁸ Penn Medicine Philadelphia, PA USA.
⁹ Lexington Medical Center West Columbia, SC USA.
¹⁰ Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, OH USA.
¹¹ Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA USA.
¹² UConn Health Farmington, CT USA.
¹³ University of Washington Seattle, WA USA.
¹⁴ Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee , WI USA.
¹⁵ Intermountain Medical Center and the University of Utah Murray , UT USA.
¹⁶ Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford, CA USA.
¹⁷ Christiana Care Health System Newark , DE USA.
¹⁸ Johns Hopkins University Baltimore , MD USA.
¹⁹ Texas Heart Institute, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX USA.
²⁰ Gill Heart and Vascular Institute, University of Kentucky Lexington, KY USA.
²¹ Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia, PA USA.
²² Wake Forest University School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC USA.

PMID: 38681157
PMCID: PMC11044939
DOI: 10.24908/pocus.v9i1.17240

Review

Best Practices for Point of Care Ultrasound: An Interdisciplinary Expert Consensus

Brandon Oto et al. POCUS J. 2024.

. 2024 Apr 22;9(1):95-108.

doi: 10.24908/pocus.v9i1.17240. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Bridgeport Hospital, Yale New Haven Health Bridgeport, CT USA.
² Piedmont Heart Institute Atlanta , GA USA.
³ Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY USA.
⁴ Novant Health Cornelius, NC USA.
⁵ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC USA.
⁶ University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL USA.
⁷ Phelps Health Rolla, MO USA.
⁸ Penn Medicine Philadelphia, PA USA.
⁹ Lexington Medical Center West Columbia, SC USA.
¹⁰ Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, OH USA.
¹¹ Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA USA.
¹² UConn Health Farmington, CT USA.
¹³ University of Washington Seattle, WA USA.
¹⁴ Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee , WI USA.
¹⁵ Intermountain Medical Center and the University of Utah Murray , UT USA.
¹⁶ Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford, CA USA.
¹⁷ Christiana Care Health System Newark , DE USA.
¹⁸ Johns Hopkins University Baltimore , MD USA.
¹⁹ Texas Heart Institute, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX USA.
²⁰ Gill Heart and Vascular Institute, University of Kentucky Lexington, KY USA.
²¹ Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Philadelphia, PA USA.
²² Wake Forest University School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC USA.

PMID: 38681157
PMCID: PMC11044939
DOI: 10.24908/pocus.v9i1.17240

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.

Keywords: Best Practice; Clinical Ultrasound; Consensus; Emergency ultrasound; Guidelines; POCUS; Sonography.

Copyright (c) 2024 Brandon Oto, PA-C, FCCM, Robert Baeten, PA-C, FCCP, Leon Chen, DNP, AGACNP-BC, FCCP, FAANP, FCCM, Puja Dalal, MD, FAAFP, Ria Dancel, MD, FACP, SFHM, FAAP, Steven Fox, MD, Carl William Lange, IV, MSBS, EM-CAQ, PA-C, Cameron Baston, MD, MSCE, FACP, Paul Bornemann, MD, RMSK, RPVI, Siddharth Dugar, MD, FCCM, FASE, FCCP, Andrew Goldsmith, MD, MBA, Meghan Kelly Herbst, MD, FACEP, James N. Kirkpatrick, MD, FASE, FACC, Abhilash Koratala, MD, FASN, Michael J. Lanspa, MD, Viveta Lobo, MD, FACEP, Jason T Nomura, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, FACP, FAHA, Aliaksei Pustavoitau, MD, MHS, FCCM, Mourad H Senussi, MD, MS, Vincent L. Sorrell, MD, FACP (honorary), FACC, FASE, FSCCT, FSCMR, Frances Mae West, MD, MS, FACP, Aarti Sarwal, MD, FNCS, FAAN, FCCM, FASN, RPNI.

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Conflict of interest statement

AG has received grants from NIH and consulting fees from Butterfly Network and Ultrasight. AK has received research funding from KidneyCure and the American Society of Nephrology. JK is the chair of the American Society of Echocardiography’s Scientific Statement Writing Group on Nomenclature of cardiac POCUS, and a member of the Critical Care Echocardiography Council Leadership Group.

Figures

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References

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Best Practices for Point of Care Ultrasound: An Interdisciplinary Expert Consensus

Affiliations

Best Practices for Point of Care Ultrasound: An Interdisciplinary Expert Consensus

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

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