Defining minimum image quality criteria for common diagnostic point-of-care ultrasound images: A position statement of the Society of Hospital Medicine.

backgroundPoint-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) use continues to expand across multiple clinical subspecialties, and the need for standardization of training and quality assurance has become increasingly important. Despite the need for training, there are currently no widely accepted multispecialty criteria to define an acceptable quality POCUS image for common POCUS applications used by clinicians. Without such criteria, discrepancies in rating POCUS image quality occur, leading to inconsistencies in training and quality assurance, which can ultimately compromise patient care and safety.

methodsTo address this gap, the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) Point-of-care Ultrasound Task Force convened an expert panel of 32 national POCUS experts trained in hospital medicine (n = 24), critical care (n = 4), emergency medicine (n = 3), radiology (n = 2), and cardiology (n = 1) and employed a modified-Delphi approach to develop minimum image quality criteria for five common POCUS applications: heart, lungs, abdomen, lower extremity veins, and skin/soft tissues.

resultsAfter three rounds of voting and group discussion, the panel achieved consensus on a comprehensive list of 215 items to define standard image quality criteria in five different body systems.

conclusionsThese POCUS image quality criteria offer a structured, consensus-based framework for evaluating POCUS images and establish a minimum standard for defining an acceptable quality image. Use of these criteria can improve inter-rater reliability and advance standardization of POCUS imaging, which affects training, quality assurance, and credentialing/privileging practices.