Publication Date
1-1-2024
Journal
POCUS Journal
DOI
10.24908/pocus.v9i1.17240
PMID
38681157
PMCID
PMC11044939
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
4-22-2024
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
POCUS, Guidelines, Consensus, Best Practice, Sonography, Clinical Ultrasound, Emergency ultrasound
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.
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Diseases Commons, Emergency Medicine Commons, Medical Sciences Commons, Quality Improvement Commons
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