Impact of emergency medicine resident training in ultrasonography on ultrasound utilization

Training programs in bedside ultrasound for emergency physicians often encounter considerable resistance, partly because of concern that the number of radiology-interpreted studies ordered from the ED may decrease. This study attempted to determine the effect of instituting an ED training program in ultrasound on the ordering of formal studies from a department of radiology. This retrospective, computer-assisted review compared all abdominal sonograms ordered from the ED of a busy community hospital in the 3 years before introduction of an ultrasound training program (1992 through 1994) with those ordered in the 2 years after the program's inception (1995, 1996). The number of formal studies significantly increased after institution of the training program, both in terms of absolute numbers (annual mean 181 v 95, P < .001) and as a percentage of all outpatient sonograms ordered at the institution (9.8% v 5.1%, P < .001). Introduction of a teaching program in emergency ultrasound appears to increase utilization of formal ultrasound services, at least during the training period.