UCLA has been awarded a $250,000 grant from UC to implement a bedside ultrasound training program at several of its medical centers' intensive care units.
Bedside ultrasound is a portable form of ultrasound exams — which use sound waves to see inside the body — performed and promptly interpreted by the physician at the time of an exam. This tool can help quickly identify any further medical test a patient should receive. The grant will also fund assessment of the curriculum’s impact on patient care quality and safety.
The two-year grant from University of California will be led by Dr. Elizabeth Turner, UCLA director of bedside ultrasound in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine. Two years ago, Turner received a grant from the UC Center for Health Quality and Innovation to develop a curriculum for bedside ultrasound training while she was working at UC Irvine. Turner will focus training on treatment of circulatory shock, a condition that occurs as a result of inadequate blood flow to vital organs — a common issue in critically ill patients, and one that can be readily detected by an ultrasound exam.
The grant is the result of a new partnership between the UC Center for Healthy Quality and Innovation and UC’s systemwide Office of Risk Services. The joint venture, called the Center for Health Quality and Innovation Quality Enterprise Risk Management, is part of an effort to improve patient care and satisfaction throughout UC Health.
