According to a systematic review recently published in Annals of Family Medicine, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) can reduce costs and improve diagnostic abilities in family medicine and other clinical settings.
In an article on Healio Primary Care Today, the study's author, Camilla Aakjær Andersen, MD, of Aalborg University Fyrkildevej in Denmark, explained that POCUS "empowers the primary care physician by providing more diagnostic information or increasing precision in clinical procedures."
In addition to high specificity and sensitivity, Andersen says that the 51 studies utilized in her review showed that competence in simple POCUS exams could "be achieved after only a few hours of training. Our review also showed that ultrasound examinations in primary care were not time-consuming — most examinations were performed in less than 10 minutes. Furthermore, ultrasound examinations seemed to be in line with patient preferences."
From Healio Primary Care Today:
Research independent of Andersen and colleagues’ findings suggest point-of-care ultrasound has not reached its full potential: A 2015 Family Medicine study found only 12.1% of 224 U.S. family medicine residency directors reported “familiarity with the literature that supports the use of point-of-care ultrasound” at a patient’s bedside besides obstetrical uses, and a 2017 Prescient & Strategic Intelligence press release reported the worldwide market for the device is expected to grow about 7% by 2025, due largely to the increasing number of older adults, growing occurrence of chronic diseases, and rising health care costs.
Continue reading at Healio Primary Care Today.
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