Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
An official website of the United States government
Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title
Maw AM, Ho PM, Morris MA, Glasgow RE, Huebschmann AG, Barnard JG, Metter R, Tierney DM, Mathews BK, Havranek EP, Kissler M, Fleshner M, Burian BK, Platz E, Soni NJ. Hospitalist Perceptions of Barriers to Lung Ultrasound Adoption in Diverse Hospital Environments. Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland). 2021 Aug 11; 11(8).
Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects. Despite the many advantages of lung ultrasound (LUS) in the diagnosis and management of patients with dyspnea, its adoption among hospitalists has been slow. We performed semi-structured interviews of hospitals from four diverse health systems in the United States to understand determinants of adoption within a range of clinical settings. We used the diffusion of innovation theory to guide a framework analysis of the data. Of the 27 hospitalists invited, we performed 22 interviews from four hospitals of diverse types. Median years post-residency of interviewees was 10.5 [IQR:5-15]. Four main themes emerged: (1) There are important clinical advantages to LUS despite operator dependence, (2) LUS enhances patient and clinician experience, (3) Investment of clinician time to learn and perform LUS is a barrier to adoption but yields improved efficiency for the health system and (4) Mandated training and use may be necessary to achieve broad adoption as monetary incentives are less effective. Despite the perceived benefits of LUS for patients, clinicians and health systems, a significant barrier to broad LUS adoption is the experience of time scarcity by hospitalists. Future implementation strategies should focus on changes to the clinical environment that address clinician barriers to learning and adoption of new skills.
