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Description
Introduction
20-50% of all medical imaging is of low value or inappropriate. Echocardiography (echo) is a safe and diagnostic test that provides reliable information about the heart but comes at a cost. Current ACC/AHA guidelines only recommend use of echocardiography in syncope when there is suspected structural heart disease based on cardiac history, physical exam, or electrocardiogram.
Objectives
To identify appropriate utilization rates of echocardiography in the workup of syncope. • To improve appropriate resource utilization by implementing a guideline-based, PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) Quality Improvement protocol (Figure 1) using informational material placed in and around commonly used resident working areas (Figure 2).
Conclusion
Echo has a low diagnostic yield when evaluating patients with syncope. • An increase in the appropriate utilization of this resource may increase its accessibility to clinical settings where it is more urgently needed, reduce hospital costs and length of stay, and lower the financial burden incurred by the patient
Publication Date
10-2022
Keywords
echocardiography, syncope, utilization
Disciplines
Internal Medicine
Recommended Citation
Alsabti S, Schick A, Morton J, Sta. Maria I, Aggarwal D, Sullivan M, et al. [Kaminoulu P, Maddens N, Nasr J, Halalau A]. Improving appropriate utilization of echocardiography in the workup of syncope. American College of Physicians Michigan Chapter Annual Scientific Meeting; 2022 Oct 13-16; Bellaire, MI.
Comments
American College of Physicians Michigan Chapter Annual Scientific Meeting, October 13-16, 2022, Bellaire, MI.