Quality assessment of point-of-care ultrasound reports for patients at the emergency department treated by internists

Abstract Background POCUS (point-of-care ultrasound) is an important diagnostic tool for several medical specialties. To provide safe patient care, the quality of this exam should be as high as possible. This includes solid documentation with a written report and the availability of images for revie...

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Main Authors: Larissa van Essen, Tycho J. Olgers, Moritz van Heel, Jan C. ter Maaten
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2022-04-01
Series:The Ultrasound Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13089-022-00267-5
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author Larissa van Essen
Tycho J. Olgers
Moritz van Heel
Jan C. ter Maaten
author_facet Larissa van Essen
Tycho J. Olgers
Moritz van Heel
Jan C. ter Maaten
author_sort Larissa van Essen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background POCUS (point-of-care ultrasound) is an important diagnostic tool for several medical specialties. To provide safe patient care, the quality of this exam should be as high as possible. This includes solid documentation with a written report and the availability of images for review. However, international guidelines or publications about this quality assessment and its application in clinical practice are scarce. Methods We designed a criteria-checklist to evaluate the quality of POCUS examinations. This checklist was made based on international guidelines and protocols and was validated by a Dutch expert group using the nominal group technique (NGT). All POCUS exams in general internal medicine patients documented between August 2019 and November 2020 in our ED were evaluated using this checklist. Results A total of 169 exams were included. In general, the compliance for most important criteria was high, but not optimal. A clinical question or indication for the POCUS exam was stated in 75.7% of cases. The completeness of all standard views differed per indication, but was lower when more than one standard view was required. Labels were provided in 83.5% of the saved images, while 90.8% of all examinations showed a written conclusion. Conclusions Our research showed that the overall quality of documentation varies with regard to several important criteria. Suboptimal compliance of documentation may have adverse effects on patient safety. We have developed a checklist which can be used to improve POCUS documentation.
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spelling doaj.art-2a72a190255640f5a85d2525ab32c2312022-12-22T01:46:50ZengSpringerOpenThe Ultrasound Journal2524-89872022-04-011411910.1186/s13089-022-00267-5Quality assessment of point-of-care ultrasound reports for patients at the emergency department treated by internistsLarissa van Essen0Tycho J. Olgers1Moritz van Heel2Jan C. ter Maaten3Department Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of GroningenDepartment Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of GroningenDepartment Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of GroningenDepartment Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of GroningenAbstract Background POCUS (point-of-care ultrasound) is an important diagnostic tool for several medical specialties. To provide safe patient care, the quality of this exam should be as high as possible. This includes solid documentation with a written report and the availability of images for review. However, international guidelines or publications about this quality assessment and its application in clinical practice are scarce. Methods We designed a criteria-checklist to evaluate the quality of POCUS examinations. This checklist was made based on international guidelines and protocols and was validated by a Dutch expert group using the nominal group technique (NGT). All POCUS exams in general internal medicine patients documented between August 2019 and November 2020 in our ED were evaluated using this checklist. Results A total of 169 exams were included. In general, the compliance for most important criteria was high, but not optimal. A clinical question or indication for the POCUS exam was stated in 75.7% of cases. The completeness of all standard views differed per indication, but was lower when more than one standard view was required. Labels were provided in 83.5% of the saved images, while 90.8% of all examinations showed a written conclusion. Conclusions Our research showed that the overall quality of documentation varies with regard to several important criteria. Suboptimal compliance of documentation may have adverse effects on patient safety. We have developed a checklist which can be used to improve POCUS documentation.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13089-022-00267-5Documentation qualityPOCUSPoint-of-care ultrasoundEPAUltrasound reportCriteria-checklist
spellingShingle Larissa van Essen
Tycho J. Olgers
Moritz van Heel
Jan C. ter Maaten
Quality assessment of point-of-care ultrasound reports for patients at the emergency department treated by internists
The Ultrasound Journal
Documentation quality
POCUS
Point-of-care ultrasound
EPA
Ultrasound report
Criteria-checklist
title Quality assessment of point-of-care ultrasound reports for patients at the emergency department treated by internists
title_full Quality assessment of point-of-care ultrasound reports for patients at the emergency department treated by internists
title_fullStr Quality assessment of point-of-care ultrasound reports for patients at the emergency department treated by internists
title_full_unstemmed Quality assessment of point-of-care ultrasound reports for patients at the emergency department treated by internists
title_short Quality assessment of point-of-care ultrasound reports for patients at the emergency department treated by internists
title_sort quality assessment of point of care ultrasound reports for patients at the emergency department treated by internists
topic Documentation quality
POCUS
Point-of-care ultrasound
EPA
Ultrasound report
Criteria-checklist
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13089-022-00267-5
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