Sonosite Portable Ultrasound at the Spartan Race

From July 1-2, the Morzine ski resort in Savoy, France hosted the Spartan Race, an obstacle course open to all physical abilities and all levels. Competitors from all over Europe took part in the event. With cold temperatures (54°F [12°C]), mud, rain, and a glacial river, the competition lived up to its formidable reputation and in this type of race, competitors are put through the mill and injuries are common. When it comes to providing first aid to competitors, it pays to come prepared. …

Four Secrets of Implementing a Successful Ultrasound-Guided Vascular Access Programme with Nurse Leadership

Becker's Infection Control and Clinical Quality Judy Padula, MSN, RN and Matthew Ostroff, ARNP With hospitals continuing to be measured on patient safety related criteria such as number of central-line associated blood stream infections, it is important for hospital leadership to be ready to implement programmes with nurse lead ultrasound-guided vascular access teams. Vice President, Patient Services and Chief Nursing Officer of St. Joseph’s Healthcare System in Paterson, NJ, Judy Padula, MSN, RN and Matthew Ostroff, ARNP, Vascular Access Specialist, share their experiences implementing a system-wide ultrasound guided vascular access programme offering the 4 secrets to its success – with success being increased patient satisfaction and cost savings.   …

Join Fujifilm Sonosite at ASA 2017

Sonosite at ASA2017
Sonosite is proud to participate in Anesthesiology 17, North America’s premier Anaesthesia conference. …

Battling Opioid Over-Prescription from Inside the ED

Did you know that nearly half of all opioid overdoses involve a prescription? Physicians are beginning to tackle the problem at ground zero: in the ED, where many patients receive their first prescription opioids. …

Global Health: Fujifilm Sonosite Machines Assist Puerto Rican Recovery

Sonosite ultrasound machines in Puerto Rico
Dr. Alfredo Tirado is from Florida Hospital in Orlando, and has been leading an emergency response mission in Puerto Rico to help with Hurricane Maria relief. FUJIFILM Sonosite has contributed four M-Turbos to the medical recovery efforts, and Dr. Tirado sent us an update on his work with medical patients on the island. He is being escorted by helicopter to the most at-need regions and in the image below he is using the Sonosite iViz to perform a FAST scan on a patient.  …

The Changing Face of Anaesthesia

With constant pressure on healthcare providers to improve the quality and efficiency of care while reducing costs, standardisation of patient management is a logical step towards more streamlined services. Anaesthesia is one area that is beginning to embrace this approach, combining regional nerve blocks with ultrasound guidance to improve both the quality and effectiveness of patient care while minimizing hospital stays. …

Sonosite Celebrates 10 Years in India

When Sonosite began direct operations in India in 2007, our mission was to expand our company’s vision into new territories. India, a market that both enamors and confounds economists, seemed ripe to embrace the fundamental pillars that make Sonosite a company with whom it is worth doing the business. India, a market that both enamors and confounds economists, seemed ripe to embrace the fundamental pillars that make Sonosite a company with whom it is worth doing business with. …

POCUS Profile: Dr. Torsten Müller

POCUS Profile: Dr. Torsten Müller
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is rapidly becoming a crucial tool for emergency medicine in Germany, and it's increasingly common for ambulances and emergency doctor vehicles to be equipped with POCUS systems. Dr. …

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. …

POC Ultrasound Testing Speeds Diagnosis, Safety at the Bedside

Physicians today face a multitude of ever evolving challenges, and one thing we’ve seen is an increase in the demand for educational sessions covering the latest in ultrasound. Dr. …

8 Ways to Avoid Central Line Placement Complications

Placing a central venous catheter using ultrasound guidance
Central line complications: they’re risky, costly, and all-around burden to healthcare. Whether it’s CLABSIs or iatrogenic pneumothoraces, CVC complications are not just terrifying for patients and unnerving for doctors; they are also costly for medical facilities. Fortunately, there are tested methods for Iatrogenic Pneumothorax Prevention with POCUS that can drastically reduce complication rates (and associated costs) for critically ill patients who require venous catheterization.  …

3 Steps to Getting Buy-In For Your Ultrasound Programme

How To Get Buy-In For Your Bedside Ultrasound Program
Anyone who has ever tried to change the way medicine is practised knows that inertia makes it difficult to get buy-in from colleagues and administrators. Introducing a relatively familiar technology, like point-of-care ultrasound, into a broader hospital setting might not seem like a difficult task, but all procedural changes face some kind of resistance. In Germany, physicians at the Evangelisches Krankenhaus have been able to expand the application of POCUS through multiple wards using three methods.   …

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. …

Point-of-Care Ultrasound Shows Promise for 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 condition is often diagnosed by MRI, which is both costly and impractical for screening purposes. …

Watch the Value of Endobronchial Ultrasound Webinar

Are you a pulmonologist, interventional pulmonologist, or thoracic surgeon? Check out our webinar “Lung Cancer: The State of the Disease,” from the Endoscopy Division of FUJIFILM. More people die every year from lung cancer than from colon, breast, and prostate cancer combined. In August 2016, we aired “Lung Cancer: The State of the Disease.” It’s a timely and informative webinar led by David Feller-Kopman, MD, Director of Bronchoscopy & Interventional Pulmonology at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and a world-renowned expert in his field. …

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. …

Ultrasound-Guided Vascular Access Programme Saves St. Joseph's $3.5 Million

Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality Matthew Ostroff, ARNP The American College of Emergency Physicians issued a policy statement in 2016 advocating a new safety standard for vascular access through the use of ultrasound guidance. St. Joseph's Healthcare System, in Paterson, N.J., launched a programme that has yielded significant safety and quality of care improvements for all patients requiring vascular access. This article describes how St. Joseph's cut healthcare costs and improved patient outcomes by achieving the "one-stick standard". …

Six Secrets of Implementing Ultrasound in Paediatric Emergency Medicine

Becker's Hospital Review Russ Horowitz, MD, RDMS Ultrasound is an important tool for rapid assessment of trauma patients, CVC and regional nerve block placement, facilitating difficult PIV access, and assessing cardiac function during resuscitations. In this article, Russ Horowitz, MD, RDMS, discusses six strategies to help implement ultrasound at the bedside in paediatric emergency medicine. …

Proposed CMS Hospital Outpatient Department Rule Detrimental for Imaging Services in CY 2017

Healthcare Business News Jill Rathbun, Managing Partner at Galileo Consulting Group, Arlington, VA In this article for DOTmed News, Jill Rathbun discusses the proposed CMS hospital outpatient department rule and how it will impact imaging services in CY 2017. Read more to understand how payments may be restructured to reduce the total number of classifications. …

Performance-Based Payment & Orthopedics: A Focus For The Medicare Program

Becker's Hospital CFO Jill Rathbun, Managing Partner at Galileo Consulting Group, Arlington, VA In this informative article for Becker's CFO, Jill Rathbun covers the newly implemented CMS Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement payment model. While the program began April 1, 2016, many of the hospitals were not, and are still not, prepared to participate. Read more to understand the basics of the model and how to be successful. …