A board-certified physician with expertise in echocardiography, Dr. Jose Diaz-Gomez serves as chief of the Cardiothoracic, Mechanical Circulatory Support, and Transplant Critical Care section at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center. Throughout his career, Dr. Jose Diaz-Gomez had delivered presentations and written extensively on various professional topics, including point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS).
POCUS is a widely used diagnostic tool to augment physical exams and guide treatment decision-making at the bedside. Its use has become standard practice by treating clinicians in various fields of medicine due to its high accuracy in diagnosing conditions ranging from joint problems and pregnancy complications to pneumonia and acute decompensated heart failure. In addition to providing quick, accurate diagnoses, another major benefit of POCUS is that it brings the imaging equipment to the patient rather than taking the patient to the equipment, as is necessary with other imaging modalities. The equipment also allows for personal contact between doctor and patient and can help those in distress remain calm. Portable ultrasonography offers potential cost savings for both health care providers and patients. The smaller, low-cost machines provide timely diagnoses and support improved procedural efficacy. This can help decrease the amount of time from admission to discharge while limiting patient pain and suffering. These and other benefits have led several organizations to advocate for the use of POCUS in a clinical setting. POCUS training is currently offered by the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Society of Echocardiography, and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, among other groups.
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