Start spreading the news: a deliberate approach to POCUS program development and implementation

Training, Competency, and Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Point-of-care ultrasound can provide critical diagnostic information and add to procedural safety. As with any clinical skill, however, it must be applied by an adequately trained provider, with systems to ensure safety. Training can include a mix of hands-on training with traditional didactics, online coursework, and simulation, but each carries its own costs and benefits worth of review. Following training it is essential to think about assessment of competency in point-of-care ultrasound to reflect the combination of cognitive and procedural skills that makes up the practice. Within the frameworks described, expansion can be expected across specialty and professional boundaries.

A Clinician's Guide to the Implementation of Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in the Outpatient Practice

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a valuable clinical tool used at the patient bedside to rapidly assess a wide variety of symptoms and problems which would otherwise take hours or even days. Though it has become the standard of care in Emergency Medicine and is becoming so in hospital internal medicine, less uptake has been appreciated in the outpatient setting despite reported interest from clinicians practicing there. A number of common barriers have been cited to explain this gap in use, which usually include access to equipment, mentorship, and time. In this review we present a proposed framework for clinicians who have an interest in implementing POCUS in their outpatient practice which we hope can mitigate some of these barriers and provide a more streamlined pathway to their desired goals.