Peripheral vascular ultrasound criteria due soon

The second set of appropriate use criteria for peripheral vascular ultrasound, covering venous imaging, is expected to be published very soon, reported Joseph Hughes, RVT, RVS, at the Society for Vascular Ultrasound annual meeting in San Francisco on June 1.

Hughes, who is Regional Operations Manager for Navix Diagnostix, Inc. in Souderton, Pennsylvania and a SVU board member, also served on the task force that developed the appropriate use criteria. That task force included representatives from a long list of medical societies, including SVU.

The first set of appropriate use criteria, covering arterial peripheral ultrasound, was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in June 2012, and is scheduled for publication in the Journal of Vascular Ultrasound in September 2013.

The criteria are meant to assist physician decisionmaking, health care delivery, reimbursement policy and the identification of clinical scenarios that warrant further research.

In the case of arterial indications, the task force identified 255 potential uses of peripheral vascular ultrasound and physiological testing, then reviewed and discussed the evidence. The group rated 117 of the indications as appropriate, 84 as uncertain and 54 as inappropriate.

Hughes suggested that sonographers review the lists and share any useful information with the physicians they work with.

–Jan Greene, Mint staff writer

 

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