RT Book, Section
A1 Troianos, Christopher A.
A1 Noorda, Bryan P.
A1 Bar-Yosef, Shahar
A1 Schroeder, Rebecca A.
A1 Mark, Jonathan B.
A2 Mathew, Joseph P.
A2 Nicoara, Alina
A2 Ayoub, Chakib M.
A2 Swaminathan, Madhav
SR Print(0)
ID 1171728588
T1 Establishing and Maintaining a Quality Perioperative TEE Service
T2 Clinical Manual and Review of Transesophageal Echocardiography, 3e
YR 2018
FD 2018
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071830232
LK accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1171728588
RD 2023/12/05
AB The  establishment  of  perioperative  transesophageal  echocardiography  (TEE)  services  requires  clinicians  with  adequate  clinical  training,  TEE  machines  and  probes  with  appropriate  software,  a  reporting  and  archiving  process,  and  personnel  who  set  up  and  maintain  the  equipment.  Anesthesiology  departments  provide  such  services  if  there  are  a  sufficient  number  of  TEE-certified  anesthesiologists  in  the  hospital.  The  convenience  of  their  continual  presence  in  the  operating  room  suite,  combined  with  their  understanding  of  operating  room  procedures  and  cardiac  surgical  needs,  make  anesthesiologists  the  logical  choice  to  provide  these  services.  Hospitals  that  lack  anesthesiologists  credentialed  for  perioperative  TEE  depend  upon  the  clinical  expertise  of  cardiologists  who  work  in  concert  with  the  echocardiography  laboratory.  The  department  that  provides  the  service  is  responsible  for  securing  the  necessary  capital  to  purchase  and  maintain  the  equipment,  archive  the  studies,  generate  a  report,  and  maintain  a  continuous  quality  improvement  (CQI)  process  for  both  the  equipment  and  the  clinicians  providing  the  service.  The  service  also  benefits  from  having  skilled  technical  personnel  to  maintain  and  operate  equipment.  Finally,  clinicians  should  understand  the  unique  billing  and  reimbursement  processes  associated  with  this  distinct  service,  which  differ  from  traditional  anesthesiology  billing  and  reimbursement  process.  Although  many  details  pertinent  to  the  service  are  institutionally  dependent,  this  chapter  provides  general  guidelines  that  may  be  implemented  for  most  perioperative  TEE  services.