November 2006

In the following document, the ASE and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) seek to establish recommendations and guidelines for a CQI program specific to the perioperative environment. Using the prior ASE publication on CQI as the foundation, we will: (1) present a rationale for CQI in the perioperative period; (2) define the components of a perioperative echocardiography service; (3) establish the principles of CQI as they relate to the practice of perioperative echocardiography; and (4) assess whether CQI programs are effective in the perioperative period. The recommendations and guidelines set forth in this document are to be applied to any echocardiographic procedure performed in the intraoperative period and to any in the immediate preoperative or postoperative period when it is performed independently of the CQI program of an established Level III echocardiographic service.