{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T21:49:13Z","timestamp":1769032153414,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":9,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768953600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Digit. Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Point-of-care lung ultrasound (LUS) has been described for the evaluation of lung pathologies such as pneumothorax, pneumonia, and COVID-19 infections. It is rapidly deployed, portable, and accurate for LUS diagnoses. However, a learning curve limits its use, and teleguidance has been proposed as a solution. In this study, we primarily seek to measure the effect of tele-guided lung ultrasound (T-LUS) on chest X-ray (CXR) utilization in patients presenting with COVID-19 symptoms. Secondarily, we measure the effect of T-LUS on clinical decision-making, length of stay, and clinical outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      We performed a retrospective observational study using a before\u2013after design in an adult urgent care (AUC) setting. A total of 303 patients with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 were included. AUC providers used T-LUS on 31% of patients with COVID-19 symptoms (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u200934). Abnormal LUS findings were found in 41% of patients (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u200914), with B-lines (86%) and pleural irregularities (79%) being the most common findings. Among all patients in the study period, those who received a T-LUS did not show a statistically significant difference in CXR utilization [\u221212% difference; 95% confidence interval (CI) \u221225% to 5%] as compared to patients who did not receive a T-LUS, and a similarly non-significant difference was observed in the intervention period (\u22125% difference; 95% CI: \u221221% to 14%). Length of stay was longer for patients in whom T-LUS was used (median difference 26\u2005min, 95% CI 11\u201341). However, a comparison of patients in the intervention period revealed no significant difference in length of stay between patients who received T-LUS and those that did not (median difference 16\u2005min, 95% CI \u22125 to 37).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>T-LUS is feasible and alters clinical decision-making for novice ultrasound users in the care of patients with suspected COVID-19 infection. Our results indicated that there was a no statistically significant difference trend in CXR utilization and no improvement in length of stay by the end of the 2-week trial.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fdgth.2025.1703121","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T06:44:34Z","timestamp":1768977874000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Impact of tele-ultrasound on novice users in patients with suspected COVID-19 in an urgent care setting"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"John L.","family":"Kendall","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine","place":["Stanford, CA, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sarah","family":"Janik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center","place":["Denver, CO, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Khalil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center","place":["Denver, CO, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tim","family":"Scheel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center","place":["Denver, CO, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Breyer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center","place":["Denver, CO, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stacy A.","family":"Trent","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center","place":["Denver, CO, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Matthew","family":"Riscinti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center","place":["Denver, CO, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"E32","DOI":"10.1148\/radiol.2020200642","article-title":"Correlation of chest CT and RT-PCR testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China: a report of 1014 cases","volume":"296","author":"Ai","year":"2020","journal-title":"Radiology"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1367","DOI":"10.1002\/jum.15818","article-title":"Point-of-care ultrasound predicts clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19","volume":"41","author":"Kumar","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Ultrasound Med"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e27","DOI":"10.1016\/S2213-2600(20)30120-X","article-title":"COVID-19 outbreak: less stethoscope, more ultrasound","volume":"8","author":"Buonsenso","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Respir Med"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0146","DOI":"10.1097\/CCE.0000000000000146","article-title":"Ultrasound teleguidance to reduce healthcare worker exposure to coronavirus disease 2019","volume":"2","author":"Gibson","year":"2020","journal-title":"Crit Care Explor"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2081","DOI":"10.1002\/jum.15306","article-title":"How to perform pediatric lung ultrasound examinations in the time of COVID-19","volume":"39","author":"De Rose","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Ultrasound Med"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"244","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2019.00244","article-title":"Tele-ultrasound in resource-limited settings: a systematic review","volume":"7","author":"Britton","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1314","DOI":"10.1089\/tmj.2019.0177","article-title":"Point-of-care teleultrasound: a systematic review","volume":"26","author":"Salerno","year":"2020","journal-title":"Telemed J E Health"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"986","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjqs-2015-004411","article-title":"SQUIRE 2.0 (Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence): revised publication guidelines from a detailed consensus process","volume":"25","author":"Ogrinc","year":"2016","journal-title":"BMJ Qual Saf"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"456","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjmilitary-2021-001821","article-title":"Remote ultrasound diagnostics disrupting traditional military frontline healthcare delivery","volume":"169","author":"Blenkinsop","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMJ Mil Health"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Digital Health"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fdgth.2025.1703121\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T06:44:34Z","timestamp":1768977874000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fdgth.2025.1703121\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]]},"references-count":9,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fdgth.2025.1703121"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fdgth.2025.1703121","relation":{},"ISSN":["2673-253X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2673-253X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]]},"article-number":"1703121"}}