Dr. Manoj Mehta traces the dramatic rise of monitored anesthesia care (MAC) in gastroenterology—from rare use in the 1990s to now being common in up to 60% of colonoscopies. Shifts in patient profiles, including widespread use of anxiety medications, cannabis, stimulants, and alcohol, have made traditional sedation less reliable, driving MAC’s expansion.
Author: Abhay Panchal
Chicago, IL – 7 August 2025 — GI Partners of Illinois, the largest independent, physician-led gastroenterology group in the state, has announced a transformative partnership with Simbie AI, a Y Combinator-backed, leading healthcare technology company pioneering AI-powered voice agents for medical practices.
MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Aug. 6, 2025 – Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced data from a recent national survey of 2,000 U.S. women between the ages of 30 and 65, which examined women’s motivations, frustrations and approaches related to weight loss. The release of the data coincides with the launch of Boston Scientific’s Endura Weight Loss Solutions, a new category name for a range of minimally invasive weight loss procedures.
CMS proposed payment cuts to physicians who perform procedures in the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) and the hospital outpatient department (HOPD) for 2026. The proposals could cost GIs performing endoscopy in those settings a collective $58 million. Here’s how the finalized proposals could impact practices.
AGA’s new web portal helps you navigate payor-imposed challenges that interfere with timely, evidence-based IBD care. IBD physicians and APPs, who know how to get treatments approved quickly by insurers, designed AGA’s suite of tools that help to minimize treatment disruptions, streamline documentation, and strengthen appeal submissions.
Exact Sciences has signed an exclusive licensing deal with Freenome for current and future blood-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening tests, adding a complementary option to its Cologuard portfolio. Freenome’s first-version test, recently submitted to the FDA, showed 81% CRC sensitivity and 14% advanced precancerous lesion sensitivity at 90% specificity in the PREEMPT study. The agreement includes up to $775M in payments tied to regulatory and performance milestones, plus royalties, with Exact committing $20M annually for joint R&D over three years. Leaders say the partnership could help close the screening gap for over 50 million unscreened Americans.
GI leaders Harish K. Gagneja, Judy Currier, Amy S. Oxentenko, Sita S. Chokhavatia, and Vladimir M. Kushnir spotlight urgent priorities for the field—from tackling severe workforce shortages and closing access gaps, to addressing rising GI cancer rates in young adults. Rural and underserved communities face the greatest disparities, compounded by administrative burdens and reimbursement challenges. They point to AI as a game-changer in enhancing polyp detection, streamlining documentation, and enabling precision medicine, alongside minimally invasive endoscopic procedures and new obesity interventions poised to transform care. All call for unified action to expand equitable colorectal cancer screening, improve workforce capacity, and…
In a recent commentary, Dr. David Johnson highlights two accessible interventions—exercise and aspirin—that could significantly lower colorectal cancer recurrence risk. The CHALLENGE trial found that adding just 45–60 minutes of brisk walking (or similar activity) three to four times a week after chemotherapy cut recurrence, new cancer, or death risk by 28% over nearly eight years. Separately, the ALASCCA trial showed that for patients with PIK3CA-mutated colorectal cancer, daily low-dose aspirin reduced recurrence risk by nearly 50% at three years, with minimal side effects.
A new Biomedicines study finds that practicing gastroenterologists perform only slightly better than chance when distinguishing real from AI-generated colonoscopy images. In tests with 32 physicians reviewing real, augmented, and fully synthetic polyp images, overall accuracy was just 61.2%, with no significant difference between residents and senior doctors. While all CycleGAN-generated images were flagged as synthetic, diffusion-generated ones fooled experts nearly 80% of the time—raising concerns about the need for automated authenticity safeguards.
The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and healthcare innovation hub MATTER have opened applications for the first-ever AGA Incubator: Improving GI Care, a six-month virtual program designed to accelerate startups in gastroenterology and hepatology. Ten selected companies will receive monthly workshops, mentorship from an executive-in-residence, and access to MATTER’s network, culminating in a live pitch event at Digestive Disease Week® 2026 in Chicago. Participants will also have a chance to secure investment from the AGA GI Opportunity Fund. Applications close September 21, 2025.