Lawmakers and physician organizations, including the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), are rallying behind the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act to avoid a 2.8% Medicare reimbursement cut and provide a modest 1.8% increase for 2025. This bipartisan effort, led by Rep. Greg Murphy, MD (R-NC), seeks to address financial strains on physicians, including rising practice costs and stagnating Medicare reimbursements. Rep. Murphy notes that without intervention, Medicare’s planned reimbursement changes could lead to a 6.4% effective cut for doctors next year.
Author: Abhay Panchal
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against High Focus Centers, a private equity-backed mental health provider, following the suicide of Stephen Henry LaSala Jr. The lawsuit, brought by his widow Marianne LaSala, alleges that the facility’s negligent outpatient care led to his death. LaSala, who had struggled with mental health issues, was under stable care for years with a psychiatrist. After his psychiatrist’s retirement and a suicide attempt in 2022, he received inpatient stabilization at New York Presbyterian before transitioning to High Focus’ outpatient “Partial Hospitalization Program.” However, according to the complaint, this program lacked the intensive support implied…
This paper categorizes smartwatch applications in healthcare into three domains: monitoring, nudging, and predicting. Each offers distinct health benefits: The study emphasizes the potential of smartwatches to reduce healthcare costs and improve outcomes but highlights challenges like data accuracy, privacy concerns, usability, and integration with healthcare records. Regulatory and standardization frameworks are recommended to ensure that smartwatches function as reliable medical devices while addressing data security and ethical use in patient care.
Oracle Health has introduced its next-generation Clinical AI Agent, built on advanced generative AI, aimed at improving clinical workflows and patient-provider interactions. Rebranded from its original “Clinical Digital Assistant,” this AI-driven tool leverages Oracle Cloud Infrastructure for secure and continuous service. It assists physicians by automating patient documentation, facilitating clinical decision-making, and offering multilingual support. The AI system reduces the time providers spend on documentation by an average of 41%, equating to over an hour saved daily, which can be dedicated to direct patient care. The tool’s integration with electronic health records enables efficient task automation, from recording patient interactions…
A new blood test for colorectal cancer screening, recently approved by the FDA, offers an alternative for individuals reluctant to undergo traditional colonoscopies, though it is less effective at detecting and preventing the disease. In a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found that blood tests performed every three years are associated with 2.5 times more colorectal cancer deaths compared to colonoscopy screenings every ten years. While the blood test detected over 83% of colorectal cancer cases, it only identified precancerous polyps in 13% of cases, making it significantly less effective for early detection and prevention than…
Exact Sciences unveiled data on the Cologuard Plus™ test at the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) 2024 Annual Meeting, showcasing its effectiveness as a noninvasive colorectal cancer (CRC) screening tool. Cologuard Plus was highlighted for achieving the highest life-years gained while requiring fewer colonoscopies compared to other noninvasive screening methods. Through a validated simulation model, researchers found that Cologuard Plus provided the best balance of benefits (life-years gained) and burdens (number of colonoscopies) in CRC screening across various age ranges, from 45 to 75 years.
Cook Medical has started distributing the PillSense GI Bleed Detection System in the U.S., a collaboration with EnteraSense. This FDA-approved, single-use ingestible capsule uses light-absorption technology to detect bleeding in the upper GI tract with 93% sensitivity and 91% specificity. Patients ingest the capsule, which then transmits data to a reusable handheld receiver that clearly indicates whether blood has been detected, reducing the need for image interpretation or extensive patient prep. This technology enables faster, accurate triaging of hemodynamically stable patients with suspected GI bleeding, enhancing both patient care and resource allocation in hospital settings.
To mark Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology’s 20th anniversary, experts discussed the microbiome’s impact on biology, the field’s current strengths and limitations, and future research directions. They highlighted how the microbiome acts like an “essential organ,” influencing immunity, metabolism, and overall health. Early-life microbiome composition, especially from maternal transmission, has proven critical for shaping long-term health outcomes. Strengths of microbiome research include advanced sequencing and data analysis, but limitations persist due to variability among individuals and reliance on association data rather than causation. Looking forward, the field aims to personalize treatment through microbiome-driven therapies, explore synthetic microbial communities, and integrate…
At the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) 2024 Annual Meeting, researchers presented an AI tool that identifies and differentiates pancreatic cystic and solid lesions with remarkable accuracy during endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). Developed collaboratively by teams across the U.S., Portugal, Spain, and Brazil, the AI model utilizes a convolutional neural network trained on over 126,000 still images from 378 EUS exams. Results showed high accuracy, with the AI distinguishing between normal pancreatic tissue and lesions, including 99.1% accuracy for normal tissue, 99-99.8% for cystic lesions (M-PCLs and NM-PCLs), and 94% accuracy for solid lesions like pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (P-DAC) and neuroendocrine…
Dr. Harish Gagneja, Chief Medical Officer at Austin Gastroenterology, has earned the prestigious title of Master of the American College of Gastroenterology (MACG). This distinction places Dr. Gagneja among only 172 of over 18,000 ACG members who have achieved this honor. With a career dedicated to advancing gastroenterology, Dr. Gagneja has also held positions as Assistant Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center and as President of the Texas Society of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy. He is recognized not only for his clinical expertise and leadership but also for his dedication to patient-centered care and mentoring new professionals in the field.