Pack QR, et al. - Via a cohort study of 98,999 admissions from 397 US hospital, researchers explored the correlation between risk-standardized hospital rates of transthoracic echocardiography and its outcomes. In comparison to hospitals in the lowest quartile of use, longer mean lengths of stay and higher mean costs per admission, but few variances in clinical outcomes were noted in hospitals with the highest rates of echocardiography. Without negatively affecting clinical outcomes, especially in hospitals with high rates of echocardiography use, more selective use of echocardiography could be considered, as better patient outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction were not linked to greater use of echocardiography.