Point-of-Care Ultrasound Track in an Academic Family Medicine Department.

Introduction: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is increasingly being employed in family medicine. Residency tracks can be an effective way to increase mastery in a specific subdiscipline for interested residents, but no studies exist on the implementation of a POCUS track in family medicine. We address this gap in the literature by assessing POCUS use by POCUS track residents compared to non-POCUS track residents and faculty in an academic family medicine department. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all POCUS scans completed in the first year after implementation of a family medicine residency POCUS track. Scans were analyzed by two reviewers. We compared scan volume and type between POCUS track residents, non-POCUS track residents, and faculty. A blinded quality analysis was performed on each group of scans. Results: A total of 572 scans were completed on 536 patients over 1 year. POCUS track residents scanned significantly more than non-POCUS track residents (mean difference of 72.2, CI 59.1 to 85.4; P<.0001). The most common scan types across groups were musculoskeletal and soft tissue. POCUS track residents showed statistically improved scan quality in all scan types, while non-POCUS track residents showed statistical improvement only in soft tissue, shoulder, and abdominal aortic aneurysm scans. Conclusions: This is the first longitudinal study of a novel academic family medicine residency POCUS track. Participation in a POCUS track can increase the number, variety, and quality of scans performed. Our curriculum can be a model for family medicine residency programs that wish to provide robust POCUS training.

The Evolution of Cardiovascular Ultrasound: A Review of Cardiac Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Across Specialties.

The use of cardiac point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is now widespread in clinics, emergency departments, and all areas of the hospital. Users include medical trainees, advanced practice practitioners, and attending physicians in many specialties and sub-specialties. Opportunities to learn cardiac POCUS and requirements for training vary across specialties, as does the scope of the cardiac POCUS examination. In this review, we describe both a brief history of how cardiac POCUS emerged from echocardiography and the state of the art across a variety of medical fields.

Current State of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Use Within Family Medicine.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Following the publication of Point-of-Care-Ultrasound (POCUS) curriculum guidelines from the American Academy of Family Physicians in 2016, there has been a rapid expansion in POCUS curricula across family medicine departments in the US. There is growing appreciation for the potential role of POCUS in enhancing the clinical care family physicians provide to patients. The primary aim of our study was to evaluate the utilization of POCUS in outpatient clinic care across Family Medicine departments nationwide and to identify perceived or realized barriers in integrating POCUS use for clinic care. METHODS: The questions were part of a larger omnibus survey of US Department of Family Medicine chairs, conducted by the Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) between August 6 to August 31, 2021. RESULTS: 81% of departments have at least 1 POCUS-trained faculty, with 44% of departments using POCUS in some ambulatory clinical care. Currently, only 6% have established billing for the POCUS they perform. Faculty time, as well as funding, for POCUS training were seen as 2 primary barriers. The purchasing of equipment and billing for POCUS were described by FMCs as difficult. CONCLUSIONS: As POCUS use continues to rise in Family Medicine, it is imperative to create a more efficient and less hindered road to growth. Collaboration across departments to share best practices in training, purchasing equipment and billing for POCUS will be important to facilitate high-quality POCUS access for our patients.

Patient-centered home cancer screening attitudes during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

COVID-19 has caused disruptions in health care, in particular cancer screenings. The primary aim of our work was to evaluate the degree to which populations were accepting of home-based screenings for colorectal cancer (CRC) and cervical cancer (primary HPV testing). Three groups of adults having distinct health burdens which may affect acceptance of home-based cancer screening were identified through outpatient electronic medical records as follows as either having survived a COVID hospitalization, having been positive for non-COVID respiratory illness or having type 2 diabetes. 132 respondents (58% female) completed an online survey with hypothetical cases about their acceptance of home-based CRC or cervical cancer screening. Among females, urine and vaginal screening for primary HPV testing was acceptable to 64% and 59%, respectively. Among both males and females, CRC home screening with fecal immunochemical test (FIT) or Cologuard was acceptable to 60% of the respondents. When adjusting for education, women with a positive attitude toward home-based urine /vaginal screening were 49 times and 23 times more likely to have a positive attitude toward CRC screening (aOR=48.7 (95% CI: 7.1, 337) and aOR=23.2 (95% CI: 3.8, 142), respectively). This report indicates that home-based cancer screens for CRC and primary HPV testing are acceptable to men and women and may allow for greater compliance with screening in the future.