An Evaluation of the Accuracy of Point of Care Ultrasound by Family Physicians in Rural British Columbia, Canada: Methodological Insights

Key Points

• The aim is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) performed by family physicians in rural areas.
• Assessing interpretation agreement among imaging experts for PoCUS scans.
• Using secondary image reviews for quality assessment.
• Developing guidelines for image sharing among family physician participants.
• Agreements among imaging experts were low for many scans.
• The power to assess diagnostic accuracy was found to be inadequate.
• Recommendations include limiting diagnoses under investigation and enhancing expert consensus methods.