Use of POCUS during first trimester slashes pregnancy-related ED visits
Point-of-case ultrasound (POCUS) during early prenatal appointments significantly reduces pregnancy-related visits to the emergency department.
A recent study out of the University of Minnesota revealed how combining POCUS with pregnancy confirmation appointments, risk assessments and patient education can decrease ED visits during the first trimester by as much as 81%.
These visits are usually conducted separately, creating both time and financial constraints for many patients. Incorporating them into a single visit has the potential to drastically improve early prenatal care, experts involved in the research suggest.
“Our study demonstrates that the use of point-of-care ultrasound provides meaningful benefit to the patients we serve by addressing early pregnancy problems at the time they are identified,” Allison Newman, MD, an assistant professor at the U of M Medical School and family medicine physician with M Health Fairview, said in a release. “POCUS in early pregnancy helps clinicians more efficiently and accurately diagnose problems without compromising the quality of needed first trimester assessments—saving time, money and stress for patients.”
In the fall of 2022, the UM team launched their Early Pregnancy Dating & Risk Assessment Clinic (EPD-RA). The clinic, which was open twice per month, provides comprehensive care to women who are in their first trimester of pregnancy. During appointments, providers utilize POCUS to evaluate the health of the uterus, confirm pregnancy and provide women with a gestational age. By the end of the appointment, expectant mothers are given a due date, plan of care and any necessary referrals needed to manage medical conditions.
The use of POCUS during these appointments enables providers to identify signs of miscarriage, early indications of fetal anomalies and abnormal pregnancies—conditions that might prompt patients to seek emergency care when experiencing symptoms like bleeding or cramping. In doing so, providers are able to initiate any necessary interventions promptly.
This proved to be a valuable addition to the EPD-RA clinic, resulting in an 81% reduction in emergency and urgent care visits and phone inquiries during non-miscarrying patients’ first trimester. For miscarriage cases, the time between patients’ initial concerns or symptom onset and diagnosis decreased by 4 days, dropping from 5.8 to 1.7 following the implementation of POCUS.
The team plans to help other family clinics implement similar practices and hopes to conduct additional research across multiple sites in the future.
The group's study was published in the Annals of Family Medicine.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.