Traditionally, early pregnancy care required separate appointments for ultrasound imaging, risk assessments, and patient education. The new integrated approach, implemented at M Health Fairview Clinic – Bethesda in 2022, streamlines care into a single visit. Patients under 14 weeks pregnant receive real-time ultrasound-based evaluations, including pregnancy dating, viability assessments, and risk evaluations, followed by immediate counseling.

“Our study demonstrates that the use of point-of-care ultrasound provides meaningful benefit to the patients we serve by addressing early pregnancy problems at the time they are identified,” said Dr. Allison Newman, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a family medicine physician with M Health Fairview.


Key findings of that study:

Emergency visit reductions: Non-miscarrying patients experienced an 81% drop in emergency visits and related first-trimester inquiries.
Faster miscarriage diagnosis: The time from initial concern to diagnosis for miscarriage cases was reduced from an average of 5.8 days to 1.7 days.
Improved education and support: Patients, including those experiencing miscarriage, received more timely care and enhanced support through on-site counseling.

The integrated use of POCUS also allowed for earlier identification of high-risk cases and facilitated immediate interventions when abnormalities were detected.

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