Errors in Point-of-Care Ultrasound Quality Assurance Data: A Descriptive Study.

StudyJournal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine· Aug 2026

Errors in Point-of-Care Ultrasound Quality Assurance Data: A Descriptive Study.

Michael J Herriges, Camila Ospina-Jimenez, Derek Oswald … Jennifer Noble

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Point-of-Care UltrasoundStudyClinical practiceQ2IF 2.5

Nearly one-third of point-of-care ultrasound errors had potential for serious harm.

Errors in Point-of-Care Ultrasound Quality Assurance Data: A Descriptive Study.

Michael J Herriges … Jennifer Noble

Journal of ultrasound in medicine · Aug 2026 · Q2 in General Medicine

Background

While the accuracy of specific point-of-care ultrasound (point-of-care ultrasound) examinations has been studied, limited data exist on the characteristics and clinical impact of errors in the emergency department (emergency department).

Purpose

This study aims to assess the frequency and characteristics of errors identified during the quality assurance (quality assurance) process at a large academic medical center.

Methods

A retrospective review was conducted of all point-of-care ultrasound examinations performed from May 2022 to December 2023 across three teaching EDs in a single health system.

n = 14,763 scans

Results

nearly a third of errors risked serious harm to patients

Interpretive errors

78%

Critical errors

28%

More results

Among these, 66 scans were clinically indicated, 32 were educational, and 4 had unknown indications.

No significant differences in overall errors were found among all user groups (P = .11).

However, PGY1 and PGY2 residents had significantly more errors than PGY3 residents (P = .02), particularly for clinically indicated scans (P = .04).

More results

Educational scans showed no significant differences (P = .35).

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Conclusion · 1 of 3

Point-of-care ultrasound errors were rare, with most being interpretive mistakes by junior residents.

Conclusion · 2 of 3

Nearly one-third of errors were classified as having potential for serious adverse effects, although this classification reflected potential clinical risk rather than documented patient harm.

Conclusion · 3 of 3

Multi-site, longitudinal studies are needed to identify factors contributing to high-risk errors.

Errors in Point-of-Care Ultrasound Quality Assurance Data: A Descriptive Study.

Errors in Point-of-Care Ultrasound Quality Assurance Data: A Descriptive Study.

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