Cardiologists Who Use An Ultrasound Machine To Examine A Patient?

It is Saturday.  My wife and I are sharing our twentieth wedding anniversary by going out for dinner.  I was cruising through all the doom and gloom of Ebola, and other stuff, and discovered a notable.  A cardiologist using an ultrasound machine to check on a patients heart.  When most patients come to the cardiologists come to the office, they get an ECG (EKG), and the usual vitals by the nurse.

I think that it would be great if a cardiologist TRAINED in BASIC echocardiography would use the machine to take a look at the patients heart.  A basic echo would assess cardiac output, wall motion, and other factors like valvular incompetency.  The machine to the left is not an ad.  It is one of several machines used in offices around the globe.  I think the cardiologist should use this tool in a BASIC examination of the patient in the office.  Question: reimbursement.  Oboma care?    We will see how that shakes out.  Here is a link to a useful article.

Cardiologists who used a handheld ultrasound were more likely to make an accurate diagnosis of patients with common cardiovascular abnormalities than colleagues who relied on a physical exam, for an estimated savings of $63 per patient. Handheld ultrasound’s ability to rule out abnormalities also likely would reduce downstream testing, according to a study published online Sept. 17 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging. 

Thank you Sonoworld and Cardiovascular Business

http://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/topics/imaging/handheld-ultrasound-trounces-physical-exams-accuracy-cost