Advanced Cardiovascular Sonographer: A Proposal of the American Society of Echocardiography Advanced Practice Sonographer Task Force

Echocardiographic examinations require a well-trained and competent sonographer to obtain proper anatomic and physiologic data to establish an accurate diagnosis for clinical decision-making and patient management. Although the formal education and training of cardiovascular sonographers are evolving, many entry-level and staff sonographers may not have sufficient practical or clinical knowledge of the necessary components of the echocardiographic study for the individual patient's clinical presentation. In many clinical settings, echocardiograms are read after the patient has left the laboratory. Thus, there is a role for a sonographer who can practice at an advanced level in a cardiovascular ultrasound laboratory to ensure a proper echocardiographic examination is performed on every patient. In this setting, an Advanced Cardiovascular Sonographer (ACS) would be able to review the indication for and quality of the examination. If additional images were needed, the ACS would assist the sonographer in obtaining these images, which would lead to the performance of a complete and fully diagnostic examination before the patient had left the echocardiography laboratory. In clinical practice, the quality of the examinations performed would improve, advancements in echocardiographic methods could be taught and incorporated into daily practice, and patients would be better served. The present report is a proposal from the American Society of Echocardiography Advanced Practice Task Force that identifies the potential of cardiac sonographers to achieve the ACS level.