Appropriateness

As sonographers, we've all been there... the referring physician enters vague orders because they are just trying to get an echo for their patient and you are left searching for an appropriate indication to perform the echocardiogram. This is unfortunately common place in echo labs across the country. Ultimately ensuring exam appropriateness lies on the shoulders of the sonographer, as we are the last stop before the exam is performed. This leaves the sonographer digging through H&P's trying to come up with something that might meet the criteria and calling the referring physician for clarification on orders. 

With Appropriate Use Criteria becoming a factor for pre-authorization and insurance payment, it is evident that education and ease of access to Appropriate Use Criteria is needed for referring physicians and sonographers. The published standards for appropriateness are detailed and thorough and cover just about every aspect of clinical care and exam indications you may encounter in your day to day routine schedule. However, it can be difficult to navigate the details of the standards and guidelines to quickly determine appropriateness with 7 STATS and 3 TEE's waiting when you walk in the door.

So that's where we come in. Our FREE (yes you read that correctly... FREE) Appropriate Use Criteria analysis tool helps referring physicians and cardiac sonographers quickly get the information they need to determine appropriateness. Just plug in your indications and we do the rest. The corresponding appropriateness level is displayed quickly and easily, saving you time and streamlining patient care.

Whether you need to search this quickly before ordering an echo or you are doing an Appropriate Use Criteria review for accreditation, this can save you time and simplify this once very tedious task. Our simple analysis search tool is free to use. You can find it HERE.

If your facility needs a more detailed report of AUC results for accreditation or internal tracking, our DIY Accreditation Toolkit includes this option with quick data entry and tracking. Also use our DIY Accreditation Toolkit to implement a Quality Improvement Program with tracking of employee and physician Quality Scores. Set a benchmark and track quality in the lab. Identify key areas for training and learning opportunities. Our detailed quality tools will help you set a standard of excellence for your lab.   Learn more about that or start your FREE 7 day trial HERE.

2011 Appropriate Use Criteria
2017 Appropriate Use Criteria for Multimodality Imaging in Valvular Heart Disease

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