Own handheld POCUS device?

[gro2001]

Has anyone purchased their own handheld POCUS device (eg Butterfly IQ, EagleView, Clarius, etc)? If so, how has your experience been? Which one did you choose and why?

Ideally I would use POCUS on most of the sicker patients when I round (mostly limited echo, some limited abdominal/IVC scans, some chest scans), but the regular cart based machines slow me down too much (between wheeling into the room, maneuvering to plug in, wheeling to the next room, etc). I feel if I had a handheld device I would use it way more often due to the overall lower headache, but haven't quite convinced myself that the $3-5k price tag is justifiable. I have a productivity bonus based on wRVUS, so curious if it either billing for POCUS separately or as part of critical care time would justify the expense and documentation time.

Are there other unexpected hurdles, or better yet unexpected upsides?

At first glance it seems like there is no way to really justify it, but I kinda want to be talked into it lol.

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[DoctwoB]

I have a Butterfly and use it in my clinical practice (not CCM).

Image quality is great considering the size of the system. Price is right and easily earned back with not too many ultrasounds.

The main issue is HIPAA. If you're billing for ultrasound you need to save images. If you are saving images it needs to be on a system that your employer has deemed kosher. You can pay a monthly fee to use Butterfly's server, but again unless you are completely an independent contractor you will need to get that cleared by the powers that be.

I use their cloud system. I see a patient in clinic, save an image on the US, and copy it into my note in the chart. takes an extra 30 seconds.

 

[gro2001]

I have a Butterfly and use it in my clinical practice (not CCM).

Image quality is great considering the size of the system. Price is right and easily earned back with not too many ultrasounds.

The main issue is HIPAA. If you're billing for ultrasound you need to save images. If you are saving images it needs to be on a system that your employer has deemed kosher. You can pay a monthly fee to use Butterfly's server, but again unless you are completely an independent contractor you will need to get that cleared by the powers that be.

I use their cloud system. I see a patient in clinic, save an image on the US, and copy it into my note in the chart. takes an extra 30 seconds.

Yeah, I feel I would end up doing something like that, or pasting screen shots into the note.

But in terms of the financials, you are billing both the professional and technical fee?

 

[Siggy]

I have a Butterfly and use it in my clinical practice (not CCM).

Image quality is great considering the size of the system. Price is right and easily earned back with not too many ultrasounds.

The main issue is HIPAA. If you're billing for ultrasound you need to save images. If you are saving images it needs to be on a system that your employer has deemed kosher. You can pay a monthly fee to use Butterfly's server, but again unless you are completely an independent contractor you will need to get that cleared by the powers that be.

I use their cloud system. I see a patient in clinic, save an image on the US, and copy it into my note in the chart. takes an extra 30 seconds.

I have the Butterfly as well. I initially resisted buying a dedicated iPAD and used an old cell phone, however when the phone finally died I switched to an iPad and the difference was significant.

My main hospital uses Meditech, so I can upload to the Butterfly server, download to the computer desktop, and easily upload the images to my procedure note.

To note, when I bought my Butterfly back in 2020 they had a deal for lifetime subscription for $1000. I'm not RVU, so unless my company wanted to reimburse me, I wouldn't subscribe. If I was the math would be different.

 

[chessknt]

Yeah, I feel I would end up doing something like that, or pasting screen shots into the note.

But in terms of the financials, you are billing both the professional and technical fee?

In a clinic yes, in a hospital possibly yes but it gets complicated.

The whole thing doesn't bill for much--chest pocus like $30, limited tte like $80 or so. It does add up if you do a whole bunch.

I tried a butterfly for a month but I thought the image quality was crap, especially in big people which is most patients these days.