Development of a multisystem point of care ultrasound skills assessment checklist

Nilam J. Soni, Medicine Service, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, USA. sonin@uthscsa.edu.
Robert Nathanson, Medicine Service, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Mark Andreae, Departments of Critical Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine, University of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Rahul Khosla, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
Karthik Vadamalai, Critical Care Medicine, Mercy Hospital, Springfield, MO, USA.
Karthik Kode, Department of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, HI, USA.
Jeremy S. Boyd, Emergency Medicine, Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN, USA.
Charles M. LoPresti, Medicine Service, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Dana Resop, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
Zahir Basrai, Emergency Medicine, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Jason Williams, Section of Hospital Medicine, Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Brian Bales, Emergency Medicine, Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN, USA.
Harald Sauthoff, Medicine Service, Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Healthcare System, New York, NY, USA.
Erin Wetherbee, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Elizabeth K. Haro, Medicine Service, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Natalie Smith, Medicine Service, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Michael J. Mader, Research Service, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Jacqueline Pugh, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, MC 7982, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA.
Erin P. Finley, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, MC 7982, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA.
Christopher K. Schott, Departments of Critical Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine, University of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

5-12-2022

Journal

The ultrasound journal

Volume

14

Issue

1

DOI

10.1186/s13089-022-00268-4

Keywords

Checklist; Education; Point of care; Ultrasound

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Many institutions are training clinicians in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), but few POCUS skills checklists have been developed and validated. We developed a consensus-based multispecialty POCUS skills checklist with anchoring references for basic cardiac, lung, abdominal, and vascular ultrasound, and peripheral intravenous line (PIV) insertion. METHODS: A POCUS expert panel of 14 physicians specializing in emergency, critical care, and internal/hospital medicine participated in a modified-Delphi approach to develop a basic POCUS skills checklist by group consensus. Three rounds of voting were conducted, and consensus was defined by ≥ 80% agreement. Items achieving < 80% consensus were discussed and considered for up to two additional rounds of voting. RESULTS: Thirteen POCUS experts (93%) completed all three rounds of voting. Cardiac, lung, abdominal, and vascular ultrasound checklists included probe location and control, basic machine setup, image quality and optimization, and identification of anatomical structures. PIV insertion included additional items for needle tip tracking. During the first round of voting, 136 (82%) items achieved consensus, and after revision and revoting, an additional 21 items achieved consensus. A total of 153 (92%) items were included in the final checklist. CONCLUSIONS: We have developed a consensus-based, multispecialty POCUS checklist to evaluate skills in image acquisition and anatomy identification for basic cardiac, lung, abdominal, and vascular ultrasound, and PIV insertion.

Department

Medicine

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS