WIP 75 - HOCUS POCUS: Point of Care Ultrasound in Pediatric Hospital Medicine - Witchery or Reality?

Publication Number: WIP 75.7370

Lauren Abbas, Advocate Children's Hospital, Park Ridge, IL, United States; Heidi Greening, Advocate Children's Hospital - Park Ridge, Park Ridge, IL, United States; Mahbubul Hasan, Advocate Children's Hospital - Park Ridge, Colliervielle, TN, United States; Sarah Youskievicz, Advocate Children's Hospital - Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, IL, United States; Melanie C. Marsh, Advocate Children's Hospital - Park Ridge, Lake forest, IL, United States

Background: Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) has become an essential diagnostic and procedural tool in adult medicine, with growing utilization in pediatric emergency medicine and critical care. However, its use in pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) remains limited, despite promising applications. While institutional barriers such as limited access to equipment and lack of training have been cited, little is known about the specific needs and barriers faced by individual pediatric hospitalists or the influence that division leadership and access to simulation centers has on POCUS integration. As POCUS training grows in medical education, it is vital to understand when, how, and what to introduce in pediatric hospitalist training in order to reduce unnecessary radiation and enhance diagnostic care for children.

Objective: We aim to inform the development of sustainable materials and infrastructure for POCUS in PHM. Our objectives are therefore twofold: 1) to assess the attitudes, prevalence, and perceived barriers to POCUS utilization among individual pediatric hospitalists, and 2) to explore the influence of specific factors, such as med-peds training, division director attitudes, and access to simulation centers, on the successful integration of POCUS in practice.

Design/Methods: We will conduct a national survey targeting pediatric hospitalists from August to November 2024. The multimodal survey, designed with input from internal and external content experts in POCUS and survey design, incorporates both qualitative and quantitative components and was iteratively revised for content validity. The survey, housed in RedCap, will be distributed through the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Hospital Medicine and PHM Division Directors listservs. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze responses, and subgroup analyses will explore the impact of training background, practice length, and practice setting on POCUS utilization. Kruskal-Wallis and Fisher’s exact tests will be applied as appropriate. Thematic analysis will capture qualitative insights from open-ended responses.