Summary: A University of Minnesota Medical School study found that integrating point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) into early pregnancy assessments reduced emergency visits by 81%, enabled faster diagnoses, and improved patient care through streamlined, same-day evaluations.

Key Takeaways

  • Significant Reduction in Emergency Visits: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) reduced emergency visits, urgent appointments, and phone inquiries by 81% for non-miscarrying patients.
  • Faster Diagnosis and Intervention: POCUS enabled quicker identification of abnormal pregnancies, reducing the time to miscarriage diagnosis from 5.8 days to 1.7 days.
  • Streamlined Early Pregnancy Care: The integrated approach consolidated ultrasound, risk assessment, and counseling into a single visit, improving efficiency, patient support, and care quality.

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A groundbreaking study from the University of Minnesota Medical School, published in the Annals of Family Medicine, highlights the benefits of integrating point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) into early pregnancy assessments. The research shows an 81% reduction in emergency visits for non-miscarrying patients when POCUS is used to evaluate pregnancy viability and gestational age during the first trimester.

Efficient Early Pregnancy Care

Historically, early pregnancy care required multiple appointments for ultrasound, risk assessment, and patient education. This new integrated approach consolidates these services into a single visit, providing comprehensive care for patients under 14 weeks pregnant. Real-time ultrasound results enable pregnancy dating, viability assessments, risk evaluations, and on-site counseling without delays.

“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,” says Allison Newman, MD, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and family medicine physician with M Health Fairview.

“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,” Newman adds.

Timely Interventions

The research team implemented this approach at M Health Fairview Clinic-Bethesda in the fall of 2022. The results revealed:

  • An 81% decrease in emergency visits, urgent appointments, and phone inquiries for non-miscarrying patients.
  • Faster diagnosis of abnormal pregnancies, allowing for timely intervention.
  • Shortened time from concern to miscarriage diagnosis, dropping from 5.8 days to 1.7 days.

Researchers emphasize that this model improves education and support for all patients, including those experiencing miscarriage. Future recommendations include expanding this process to other family medicine practices and conducting larger studies across multiple sites to confirm the findings.