Quality Assurance
The ASE has published guidelines for continuous quality improvement
(CQI) in echocardiography, but these guidelines were not designed specifically for
perioperative TEE.[114]
However, even relatively
simple CQI interventions may produce dramatic results in the consistency of image
acquisition and storage.[34]
Periodic expert review
of TEE interpretations is essential if practitioners are to reach and maintain their
diagnostic potential. Collaboration between the departments of anesthesiology and
cardiology is one
approach to this review process that minimizes the duplication inherent in the formation
of independent CQI programs.
