POCUS in Dyspnea Improves Diagnosis, Shortens Hospital Stay

Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has been increasingly available in a variety of settings due to more affordable devices and training to support specific use. However, challenges remain at justifying the time, training, and expense to make this standard of practice for hospitalist providers. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of cardiopulmonary POCUS examinations for patients hospitalized for dyspnea. Design: Stepped-wedge, cluster randomized trial. Methods: The trial was conducted across hospitalist services at a single academic institution during a 6-month period. Patients were eligible if they were adults admitted for undifferentiated dyspnea to 1 of 5 hospitalist services. The intervention was a structured cardiopulmonary POCUS examination, performed either by hospitalist or by sonographers, on the first day of admission. Main outcomes included length of stay and hospitalization costs, as well as evaluations of implementation success such as c more...