Gastro Health, a leading national medical group specializing in digestive and liver health, has announced the appointment of Alan Oliver as its Chief Executive Officer. Alan has been serving as Interim CEO and Chief Operating Officer since May 2024, following his initial appointment as COO in May 2022.
Author: Abhay Panchal
Lucid Diagnostics has submitted its complete clinical evidence package to Medicare’s Molecular Diagnostics Program (MolDX), seeking reconsideration of a Local Coverage Determination (LCD) to secure Medicare coverage for its EsoGuard® Esophageal DNA Test. EsoGuard is a noninvasive diagnostic tool designed to detect esophageal precancer in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The submission includes six peer-reviewed studies demonstrating the test’s clinical validity, utility, and analytical accuracy.
The incoming Trump Administration and Republican-controlled Congress will significantly shape healthcare policies in 2025, emphasizing deregulation and reshaping initiatives from the Biden era. Key areas to watch include: While the regulatory environment may present challenges, opportunities exist for stakeholders advocating reduced regulation, faster innovation, and patient-focused initiatives.
In this podcast, Tom Serena, CEO of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), reflects on his journey in leadership and the evolving role of private equity in the GI field. Serena discusses his upbringing, career milestones, and the shift in AGA’s culture toward inclusivity. He highlights the GI Opportunity Fund’s partnership with venture capital to drive innovation and shares insights on challenges like physician burnout, autonomy, and reimbursement. Serena also touches on how legacy societies adapt to emerging specialized organizations and shares valuable life lessons from his 30 years with AGA.
Doctors dominate the list of highest-paid U.S. occupations, holding 16 of the top 20 positions, with pediatric surgeons earning $449,320 on average. Dentists fill the other four slots. The reasons for these high earnings include extensive education, long hours, and a restricted supply of doctors due to caps on medical school seats and residencies, leading to elevated salaries.Additionally, federal policies, such as Medicare pricing, allocate significant resources to healthcare, which drives costs and salaries higher. Despite their high incomes, doctors face challenges like student debt, burnout, and a growing physician shortage, with only 2.7 doctors per 1,000 people in the…
Dr. Nitesh Ratnakar, a gastroenterologist from Wheeling, West Virginia, has been convicted of 41 counts of tax fraud for failing to remit nearly $2.5 million in payroll taxes. Operating a gastroenterology practice and a medical equipment manufacturing company in Elkins, West Virginia, Dr. Ratnakar withheld payroll taxes from employees’ paychecks between 2018 and 2022 but did not forward these funds to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has released updated guidelines for managing moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis (UC), emphasizing advanced pharmacological therapies and personalized treatment approaches. The guidelines recommend using medications such as infliximab, vedolizumab, and upadacitinib over no treatment and suggest prioritizing higher-efficacy medications, particularly for patients naive to advanced therapies or with prior therapy failures. Combination therapy with TNF antagonists and immunomodulators is preferred, but withdrawal of TNF antagonists is discouraged for patients in sustained remission.
Bracco Diagnostics Inc. (BDI) and ColoWatch have partnered to expand access to virtual colonoscopy as a colorectal cancer (CRC) screening tool. With the rise in CRC cases among younger patients and low screening rates for those aged 45-49, this collaboration aims to make the less invasive, highly accurate virtual colonoscopy more widely available, especially in underserved communities. The partnership is bolstered by recent CMS proposals for Medicare reimbursement, which could significantly enhance adoption.
A recent study led by Dr. Adam Rodman at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center revealed surprising insights into the use of ChatGPT-4 for medical diagnoses. While the AI chatbot outperformed physicians with an average score of 90% in diagnosing conditions from case reports, doctors using ChatGPT only slightly improved their scores (76%) compared to those without it (74%).The study highlighted two key issues: physicians often dismissed AI suggestions that contradicted their own diagnoses due to overconfidence, and many failed to fully utilize the chatbot’s capabilities. Instead of leveraging its ability to analyze entire case histories, they treated it as a…
Cylinder, a leading digestive health employee benefit provider, highlighted the critical role of digestive wellness in overall health at the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchasers Coalition Annual Forum. Chris Nordman, SVP at Cylinder, joined a panel with leaders from UnitedHealthcare and Maven Clinic to discuss the impact of data-driven, personalized care on improving employee health outcomes and reducing employer healthcare costs.