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National survey of diagnostic point of care ultrasound practices and program development in academic neonatal-perinatal medicine centers

Journal of Perinatology volume 46, pages 19–25 (2026)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

To assess diagnostic point of care ultrasound (POCUS) use, presence of programmatic infrastructural elements, and barriers to implementation across neonatal perinatal medicine (NPM) programs in the United States.

Study design

Cross-sectional study. An online survey was distributed to leaders in education or POCUS at ACGME-accredited NPM fellowship programs. National trends were outlined using descriptive statistics and compared by program size.

Result

79 of 99 (80%) NPM programs responded. Diagnostic POCUS was available at 71% (n = 56) of sites that responded. Key infrastructural elements were present at <45% of sites, with fellow training being the exception (71%). Many barriers to diagnostic POCUS program implementation were identified and they differed by program size.

Conclusion

Diagnostic POCUS is being increasingly adopted despite underdeveloped programmatic infrastructure. Identified barriers suggest a need for collaborative efforts to support the necessary infrastructural elements, and differences by program size suggest a need for tailored approaches for successful integration.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the survey respondents for their participation in this research study. The authors would also like to thank the NNPC and the CHOP GRIP Grant Foundation for their support.

Funding

Funding for participant incentive was supplied by a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Grants for Resident Innovation and Projects (GRIP) grant.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Kathleen Miller

  2. Department of Neonatology, Orlando Health Hospital, Orlando, FL, USA

    J. Lauren Ruoss

  3. Department of Neonatology, New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, New York, NY, USA

    Diana Vargas Chaves

  4. Department Neonatology, University of California at Davis, Sacramento, California, USA

    Belinda Chan

  5. Department of Neonatology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Matthew Huber, Jason Z. Stoller, María V. Fraga, Heather French & William Corder

  6. Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Thomas Conlon

Authors
  1. Kathleen Miller
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  2. J. Lauren Ruoss
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  3. Diana Vargas Chaves
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  4. Belinda Chan
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  6. Jason Z. Stoller
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  7. María V. Fraga
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  8. Heather French
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  9. Thomas Conlon
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  10. William Corder
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Consortia

on behalf of the National Neonatal POCUS Collaborative

  • J. Lauren Ruoss
  • , Diana Vargas Chaves
  • , Belinda Chan
  • , Jason Z. Stoller
  • , María V. Fraga
  •  & William Corder

Contributions

KM, HF, TC, and WC conceptualized and designed this research study. KM, JLR, DVC, BC, JZS, MVF, HF, TC, and WC created and edited the survey, while KM, MH, and WC analyzed and interpreted the data. KM and WC drafted the initial manuscript, while all authors (KM, JLR, DVC, BC, MH, JZS, MVF, HF, TC, and WC) critically reviewed and revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kathleen Miller.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

This study was determined to be exempt from ethical review by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Institutional Review Board. The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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*A list of authors and their affiliations appears at the end of the paper.

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Miller, K., Ruoss, J.L., Chaves, D.V. et al. National survey of diagnostic point of care ultrasound practices and program development in academic neonatal-perinatal medicine centers. J Perinatol 46, 19–25 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-025-02307-z

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