Objective: To assess how the use of different colorectal cancer (CRC) screening methods changed in the U.S. between 2017 and 2024 among privately insured adults aged 50–75. Study Design: A retrospective cohort study of ~25 million Blue Cross Blue Shield beneficiaries using claims data from 2017–2024, comparing the pre-COVID (2017–Feb 2020) and post-COVID (July 2020–Dec 2024) periods. Key Findings:
Author: Abhay Panchal
The American Medical Association has unveiled a new Center for Digital Health and AI to ensure physicians help shape how artificial intelligence is developed and deployed in healthcare. The initiative comes after two years of research into AI use in clinical practice and growing physician concerns around data privacy, safety, liability, and workflow fit. Key goals of the center include: AMA leaders stressed that physicians must be “full partners throughout the AI lifecycle” to ensure tools are clinically valid, ethically sound, and aligned with patient care.
How are clinicians to preserve core clinical skills in an era of algorithmic assistance? As artificial intelligence (AI) assumes a growing role in clinical practice, concern is mounting that off-loading clinical tasks and reasoning will lead to loss of skills (deskilling), adopting errors or bias from AI (mis-skilling), or failure to achieve competence (never-skilling; figure). Evidence for such skill attrition has been seen with automated interpretation of electrocardiograms or radiological images. An observational study published earlier this year, however, sharpens this concern, suggesting that experienced colonoscopists lost some proficiency in colon polyp detection when routine AI support was switched off.
Commercial insurers paid far less for common gastrointestinal procedures performed in ASCs than in hospital outpatient departments, a recent study found. Insurers paid an average of $1,042 (110%) more when a surgery occurred at an in-network HOPD compared to those performed at an in-network ASC. Out-of-network ASCs were also more expensive, costing insurers $306 (32%) more than in-network ASCs, according to a study published Oct. 6 in the American Journal of Managed Care.
Jacksonville, Fla.-based Borland Groover has appointed four new C-suite leaders, according to an Oct. 20 news release shared with Becker’s. The new executives join Jackie Kennedy, chief operating officer for Borland Groover’s ancillary division, who has been with the company since 2011. Vince Vitali will continue serving as chief information officer. According to the release, the leadership restructuring is designed to realign the executive team and position the organization for future growth.
With GLP-1 supply stabilizing after a 600% surge in U.S. use between 2018–2024, the obesity treatment market is on the brink of another transformation. A wave of late-stage drugs — spanning dual, triple, and non-GLP pathways — could rival bariatric surgery outcomes and reshape care delivery in 2026. Highlights include: Experts emphasize these therapies will not only expand choice for patients resistant to GLP-1s but also enable more personalized, long-term obesity care.
Oshi Health, the nationwide virtual multidisciplinary GI clinic, has launched Access+, a new program that provides GI practices with turnkey staffing support and virtual multidisciplinary care. Designed to relieve backlogs and reduce physician burnout, Access+ integrates Oshi’s GI-trained Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), dietitians, and behavioral health specialists directly into local practices’ workflows and EMRs. Key highlights:
New peer-reviewed data in Practical Laboratory Medicine confirms the analytical reliability of Geneoscopy’s scrape-free collection method used in the FDA-approved ColoSense® colorectal cancer screening test. Across more than 1,300 replicates, ColoSense showed high reproducibility under varied conditions — including different stool volumes, dietary interferences, freeze-thaw cycles, and transit times up to 120 hours. A prospective equivalency analysis demonstrated 94% agreement between in-lab FIT and traditional at-home FIT. Retrospective testing confirmed strong sensitivity for colorectal cancer and advanced adenomas. Unlike traditional methods, ColoSense eliminates patient handling of stool and standardizes testing in the lab, reducing variability and improving patient experience. Geneoscopy…
Pascale White, MD, traces her path from Barnard biology major to director of Health Equity in Action for Liver and Digestive Diseases at Mount Sinai. Inspired by her early academic foundations and medical training at NYU and Sloan Kettering, she pursued gastroenterology despite the field’s low representation of women (35%) and Black physicians (fewer than 5%). Today, she leads initiatives to expand access to colorectal cancer screening, mentors the next generation, and champions equity in digestive health — carrying Barnard’s ethos of “bold pursuit” throughout her career.
In this episode of the Gut Talk podcast, Amy Oxentenko, MD, outgoing ACG president and Mayo Clinic vice dean, reflects on her term leading the college. She discusses initiatives to address GI workforce shortages, FTE capacity research, and the growing trend of locum tenens practice. Oxentenko also highlights strides toward closing the gender gap, ongoing equity challenges, and the need for research to shape the specialty’s future. She shares optimism about innovation in GI, notes concerns about workforce sustainability, and offers advice for incoming leaders.