The CAR’s recent position statement on Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS), published in the August 2019 issue of the CARJ has received quite a bit of attention from radiologists as well as other related physicians. After only a few weeks, the POCUS position statement received thousands of Twitter impressions.
What are people saying?
“I am very happy to have been involved in creating this document with our thoughtful and well-represented working group at a time when our profession and our clinical colleagues are looking to have appropriate guidance into the rapidly expanding field of POCUS. It has never been more important for us to reinforce the distinction between POCUS and an examination performed in the diagnostic imaging department, confirm its appropriate utilization and scope, such that all those involved in patient care are practising ultrasound under the same rigorous standards to achieve the best outcome and quality for our patients.” – Tanya Chawla MRCP FRCR FRCP(C)
The Imaging Wire Sep 6, 2019 issue stated – “Folks on the different sides of imaging are going to have very different takes on this, but CAR brings up some important points that have to be dealt with regardless of where one stands on the future of POCUS imaging”.
Social media conversation yielded some interesting feedback:
- Thought provoking statement on POCUS, highlighting the need for formal training. It’s a valuable clinical tool (and I’ve enjoyed using it for its academic virtue) but we need training to know our limits.
- Lots of controversial statements here, some of which could lead to unnecessary barriers to #POCUS Central to this issue is the question of “to whom does #POCUS governance belong?” Should all stakeholders be at the table?
The community called and the CAR responded
The update of the POCUS position statement initially began with a conversation among CAR members. The CAR convened a working group in 2018 to update the CAR’s position, chaired by Dr. Tanya Chawla, to provide guidance about the proper scope and use of POCUS for all physicians and their governing bodies, that could be involved in decision making, quality evaluation and patient safety in Canada. After the recent formal commentary in the CARJ, the working group (Drs. Tanya P. Chawla, Mark Cresswell, Sukhvinder Dhillon, Mary-Louise C. Greer, Angus Hartery, Valerie Keough, Michael N. Patlas) gathered to provide additional perspective and respond to some of the feedback. Dr. Chawla, with the input of colleagues, has drafted a letter to the CARJ editor, which will be published in the November 2019 issue of the CAR Journal.
Next Steps
Things are moving forward and the CAR will engage in ongoing dialogue with other key stakeholders to ensure that curriculum and training provide in-depth knowledge and exposure to the clinicians working with POCUS.
Want to know more?
Stay tuned for the following activities:
- A POCUS module and Webinar on the CAR’s RAD Academy -fall 2019
- An “Ask Me Anything” event on The Rounds, a clinical social network for physicians, hosted by Dr. Tanya Chawla, Chair of POCUS working group – October 22-24, 2019