Ultrasound and Changes in Value-Based Care

Uncertainty – especially in economics, government, or healthcare - can be hard to handle. Combine a little bit of uncertainty in Washington D.C. and the medical community and you’ll have a window into 2017, a time when the future of the Affordable Health Care Act and the health sector is in flux.

Global Health: Ultrasound Expands Access and Improves Maternal Care

Sonosite mobile ultrasound project

Every day, 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. 99% live in rural areas. Many of them could be prevented with proper maternal care including ultrasound imaging during their pregnancy and delivering in a medical clinic. Of those deaths, 40% are due to injuries or conditions related to placenta complications - and the only way to detect abnormal placenta challenges is through an ultrasound exam.

Ultrasound and Changes in Value-Based Care - Part 1

Uncertainty – especially in economics, government, or healthcare - can be hard to handle. Combine a little bit of uncertainty in Washington D.C. and the medical community and you’ll have a window into 2017, a time when the future of the Affordable Health Care Act and the health sector is in flux.
 
Is there a silver lining here? We believe so.

Point-of-Care Ultrasound Shows Promise for Osgood-Schlatter Diagnosis

Osgood-Schlatter Diagnosis

Osgood-Schlatter disease is a developmental disorder that causes musculoskeletal problems and is rare in the normal population. However, the condition is more common in teenagers who play sports, affecting an estimated 3-5% percent of this population; it causes painful inflammation below the knee in adolescents and can lead to permanent soft tissue damage.

The Range of POCUS: Emergency Rooms to Vascular Access to Intensive Care Training

Range of POCUS

Did you know that Sonosite’s first mission was to create an ultrasound machine that could be carried into battle? The concept was simple: Get treatment to a trauma victim by giving a frontline clinician an ultrasound machine that could be brought to the patient’s side. Now point-of-care ultrasound is used around the world for an ever growing variety of clinical applications and procedures.

User Stories: Madrid's Emergency Services and Portable Ultrasound

Since point-of-care ultrasound systems were originally designed for dealing with emergencies in a battlefield setting, it's not surprising that ultrasound now plays a pivotal role in emergency vehicles around the world. Dr Ramón de Elías Hernandez, head of on-call doctors at SAMUR, Madrid’s municipal emergency service, describes the advantages that point-of-care ultrasound brings to his everyday life.

Reducing The Opioid Epidemic with POC Ultrasound

Every day, 91 Americans die from opioid (prescription drugs or heroin) overdoses. This is the worst drug epidemic in the history of the United States.

How can emergency physicians help patients manage pain without accidentally getting them addicted to prescription opioids?

Anesthesia Ultrasound for Perioperative Care - Beyond the Block

Anesthesia Ultrasound for Perioperative Care

The role of the anesthesiologist is evolving to include perioperative care

With hospitals seeking innovative ways to streamline patient care and improve outcomes, anesthesiologists are increasingly expected to provide patient care beyond general anesthesia and nerve blocks. But beyond the block, how does perioperative ultrasound help anesthesiologists do their jobs?

The answer has a lot to do with the changing practice of medicine.

Beyond the Block: Why Would an Anesthesiologist Use Ultrasound?

 Increasingly, anesthesiologists have been using ultrasound guidance to help visualize soft tissue anatomy and nerve location while performing regional nerve blocks. Correct placement of local anesthetics lead to long lasting pain management and enhanced

Increasingly, anesthesiologists have been using ultrasound guidance to help visualize soft tissue anatomy and nerve location while performing regional nerve blocks. Correct placement of local anesthetics lead to long lasting pain management and enhanced recovery times.

But beyond the block, how does ultrasound help anesthesiologists do their jobs?

The answer has a lot to do with the changing practice of medicine.

Beyond the Block: Why Would an Anesthesiologist Use Ultrasound?

Increasingly, anesthesiologists have been using ultrasound guidance to help visualize soft tissue anatomy and nerve location while performing regional nerve blocks. Correct placement of local anesthetics lead to long lasting pain management and enhanced recovery times.

But beyond the block, how does ultrasound help anesthesiologists do their jobs?

The answer has a lot to do with the changing practice of medicine.

Ultrasound Answers Questions in Emergency Care in Spain

Ultrasound crtical to stabilizing patients and saving lives

In the world of emergency medicine, there’s nothing fun about the guessing game. With a seriously ill or injured patient, every second counts and the wrong diagnosis can actually have a significant impact on health. That’s why having all available information is absolutely critical to stabilizing patients and saving lives.

That’s also what makes point-of-care ultrasound so critically important in emergency care.

Ultrasound Guided Nerve Blocks, Not Opioids, for Post-Operative Pain Management

Dr. Sonia Szlyk, an anesthesiologist and director of regional anesthesia for North American Partners in  Anesthesia's Mid-Atlantic division, explains how local anesthesia (aided by ultrasound guidance) is  helping control post-operative discomfort wit

It’s no secret that the U.S. is in the throes of a major heroin epidemic, at least partly caused by the over-prescription of opioid painkillers by well-meaning physicians. When it comes to perioperative pain control, there are new ways to tackle patient discomfort without resorting to prescription opioids.

User Stories: 25 Years of Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Anaesthesia

Dr. Thomas Grau, Head of Anaesthesia, Surgery, Intensive Care, Emergency Medicine and Pain at the Gütersloh Clinic, first studied ultrasound for a PhD on spinal imaging at Heidelberg University Hospital in the 1990s. 25 years on, he reflects on the role p

Dr. Thomas Grau, Head of Anaesthesia, Surgery, Intensive Care, Emergency Medicine and Pain at the Gütersloh Clinic, first studied ultrasound for a PhD on spinal imaging at Heidelberg University Hospital in the 1990s. 25 years on, he reflects on the role point-of-care ultrasound now plays in anaesthesia. 

"My first encounters with ultrasound were guided by efforts in Heidelberg to improve epidural anaesthesia in obstetrics.

User Stories: A Clear Path for Ambulatory Care

Anaesthetist Dr Philippe Grillo explains the role of point-of-care ultrasound in ensuring effective nerve blocks and post-operative pain relief.

The Clinique Juge is a Marseille clinic specialising in ambulatory surgery. Combining regional anaesthesia with focused pre- and post-operative care, the clinic aims to allow patients to return home soon after orthopaedic surgery, often on the same day as their procedure. Anaesthetist Dr Philippe Grillo explains the benefits of this approach, and the role of point-of-care ultrasound in ensuring effective nerve blocks and post-operative pain relief.

Clinical Chest Professionals, Here's Our Guide to CHEST2016

Has it really been a year already? We’re back in LA this week for another edition of CHEST, the premier clinical event for chest medicine in the U.S. We love CHEST because the show connects a global community around not just networking and new technology, but brings together new research, instruction and interactive simulations too. If you’re a veteran of CHEST you probably know your way around the show.