Emergency ultrasound fellowship training: a novel team-based approach

Objectives: To describe our experience with implementation of a novel team-based emergency ultrasound (EUS) fellowship training program.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review at an academic medical center. All emergency department (ED) faculty and residents were divided into 3 teams, and a fellow was assigned to each team. Each fellow was responsible for ultrasound (US) education of their team members and faculty credentialing. Additionally, each fellow was assigned to one of these specific responsibilities every month: (1) education, (2) quality assurance/billing, and (3) equipment. The fellows also received a checklist at the beginning of the fellowship training, which outlined research, reading, teaching, and scanning requirements.

Results: With a team-based approach, all US examinations were reviewed for quality control within 1 week after the scans were performed. The number of US examinations billed by faculty increased by 180%. The US billing revenue increased by 60% during the study period. Fifteen additional faculty members were credentialed to use US in the ED. Compliance with bedside documentation of US findings increased from 30% to 90%. There was increased resident engagement, and the number of scans performed by residents increased by 130%. There was also a substantial decrease in the funds required to replace damaged transducers.

Conclusions: A team-based EUS fellowship training program had a substantial impact on US use in the ED, quality control review, faculty credentialing, US billing revenue, compliance with documentation, and resident US education.