Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Study Published in JAMA Confirms Butterfly-Enabled POCUS Program Heavily Focused on LUNG US with AI Assistance Reduces Stay and Cost

A QI evaluation of a Butterfly-enabled POCUS program—centered on lung ultrasound for pulmonary congestion and assisted by an AI B-line Counter—was associated with 246 bed-days freed and $751,537 in direct cost savings in admissions for undifferentiated dyspnea, including acute heart-failure exacerbations.

BURLINGTON, Mass. & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Butterfly Network, Inc. (NYSE: BFLY), a digital health company transforming care through portable, semiconductor-based ultrasound technology and intuitive software, today announced that the full results of the POCUS for Cardiopulmonary Assessment and Resource Evaluation (POCUS-CARE) trial have been published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The study, led by researchers at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) and supported by Butterfly Network, found that integrating a hospitalist POCUS workflow—heavily focused on lung ultrasound (LUS) for pulmonary congestion and assisted by an FDA-cleared Auto B-line Counter—together with focused cardiac views into the routine assessment of adults admitted with undifferentiated dyspnea was associated with shorter length of stay and lower direct hospitalization costs. In this six-month stepped-wedge quality-improvement (QI) evaluation that reached 208 patients, the collaborative model (hospitalists with sonographer mentoring and remote cardiologist support) was associated with 246 hospital bed-days saved and $751,537 in direct cost savings.

“Publication in JAMA further validates the growing body of evidence supporting POCUS as a valuable diagnostic and efficiency tool in inpatient care,” said Dr. Partho Sengupta, Henry Rutgers Professor of Cardiology and Chief of Cardiovascular Diseases and Hypertension at RWJMS and Chief of Cardiology at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, and principal investigator of the study. “These findings show that structured use of POCUS at the bedside, enabled by collaborative workflows, can help improve patient care and hospital resource utilization.”

Key findings from the study include:

• Clinical impact: POCUS changed clinical management in 35% of cases.
• Health economic benefits: The POCUS group (n=101) demonstrated an overall 30% reduction in expected hospital length of stay (8.3 vs. 11.9 days, p = .01), a benefit observed across both low- and high-acuity patient subgroups. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was $3,055 per hospital bed day saved, underscoring the economic value of integrating POCUS into inpatient care.
• Efficiency & workflow: Daily lung ultrasound (LUS) with B-line tracking was a key exam component, supporting management and speeding discharge.

“The study reflects Butterfly’s commitment to helping generate high-quality clinical evidence in support of scalable, sustainable POCUS integration across the healthcare continuum,” added Dr. John Martin, Chief Medical Officer Emeritus, Butterfly Network. “By pairing hospitalist-led lung ultrasound with our AI Auto B-line Counter and cloud workflow, teams could standardize and speed congestion assessment—supporting earlier, better-informed decisions and hospital efficiency.”

• To read the full publication, visit https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2838514

About Butterfly Network

Butterfly Network, Inc. (NYSE: BFLY) is a healthcare company driving a digital revolution in medical imaging with its proprietary Ultrasound-on-Chip™ semiconductor technology and ultrasound software solutions. In 2018, Butterfly launched the world’s first handheld, single-probe, whole-body ultrasound system, Butterfly iQ. The iQ+ followed in 2020, and the iQ3 in 2024, each with improved processing power and performance by leveraging Moore’s Law. The iQ3 earned Best Medical Technology at the 2024 Prix Galien USA Awards, a prestigious honor and one of the highest accolades in healthcare. Butterfly’s innovations have also been recognized by Fierce 50, TIME’s Best Inventions and Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas, among other achievements.

Butterfly combines advanced hardware, intelligent software, AI, services, and education to drive adoption of affordable, accessible imaging. Clinical publications demonstrate that its handheld ultrasound probes paired with Compass™ enterprise workflow software, can help hospital systems improve care workflows, reduce costs, and enhance provider economics. With a cloud-based solution that enables care anywhere through next-generation mobility, Butterfly aims to democratize healthcare by addressing critical global healthcare challenges. Butterfly devices are commercially available to trained healthcare practitioners in areas including, but not limited to, parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America; to learn more about available countries, visit: https://www.butterflynetwork.com/choose-your-country.