Liquid biopsy developer Freenome is heading to the public markets via a $330M SPAC merger with Perceptive Capital Solutions, securing fresh capital as it prepares for a potential 2026 FDA decision on its blood-based colorectal cancer screening test, SimpleScreen. If approved, SimpleScreen would compete directly with Guardant Health’s Shield — the first FDA-cleared liquid biopsy for CRC detection. Early data shared with investors show 75% sensitivity for Stage I CRC and notable improvements over its prior version, though analysts caution that pivotal data ultimately submitted to the FDA will determine competitiveness. Freenome is pairing this CRC test with a broader…
Author: Abhay Panchal
AGA President Dr. Lawrence Kim has been named board chair-elect of the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) — a key organization shaping quality standards across 6,800+ outpatient centers nationwide. Dr. Kim has spent two decades helping elevate the safety and performance of ambulatory care as an AAAHC surveyor and most recently as secretary/treasurer. Now, he moves into a role that will influence how ASCs — including many high-volume GI centers — are evaluated and supported over the full 1,095-day accreditation cycle.
For many physicians, employment contracts include a base salary plus a production bonus based on relative value units (RVUs). Employers can reward physicians for exceeding RVU targets — but also penalize them for falling short. Understanding how RVUs work can help you avoid common contract RVU traps that can compromise your salary and even your employment. To shed light on these traps, Medscape Medical News spoke to Dennis Hursh, JD, MLT, veteran employment attorney who represents physicians. He’s the author of the book The Final Hurdle: A Physician’s Guide to Negotiating a Fair Employment Agreement.
(ICI)–related diarrhea and colitis face a substantially higher risk of colon adenomas, raising concerns about potential future colorectal cancer risk. Lead investigator Tanvi Gupta, MD (UT Health Houston) reported that nearly 30% of patients developed adenomas on follow-up colonoscopy — many within just 7.5 months of symptom onset. Importantly, even patients without prior polyps saw elevated risk compared with ICI-treated controls.Senior author Yinghong Wang, MD, PhD (MD Anderson) said her team now routinely performs surveillance colonoscopy within 1 year of ICI-mediated diarrhea/colitis. Session discussants Danny Issa, MD (UCLA) and Sita Chokhavatia, MD, AGAF (Valley Medical Group) agreed more evidence is…
Smart toilets — once a novelty — are emerging as a new front in digestive health monitoring. Major brands Toto and Kohler have introduced toilets and add-on sensors that automatically analyze stool for shape, volume, color and even signs of bleeding — sending results to a smartphone app within seconds. Gastroenterologists say the potential is real.Anish Sheth, MD, chief of gastroenterology at Penn Medicine Princeton Health and advisor to smart-toilet startup Toi Labs, believes these devices could detect gut issues long before they become emergencies: “We can intervene sooner, manage it quicker, and prevent days off work or hospitalization.” These…
Gastroenterology has experienced a complex mix of momentum and headwinds throughout 2025. Demand for GI services remains high, procedure volumes continue to shift into lower-cost outpatient settings and new partnerships are reshaping practice economics. But rising operating expenses, reimbursement pressure and staffing shortages present significant challenges ahead for 2026.
New analyses from five randomized tandem trials show AI-assisted colonoscopy consistently finds more nonadvanced adenomas — on average 0.4 extra polyps per patient. That sounds like a win for cancer prevention.But here’s the catch: more tiny polyps = more “high-risk” labels = more surveillance scopes. Under current US-MSTF guidelines, the number of patients pushed into high-risk follow-up jumped nearly 70% simply because AI detected additional small lesions — many unlikely to progress to cancer. Researchers warn that AI-driven over-classification could strain colonoscopy capacity without clear outcome benefit — fueling a debate now playing out in guideline committees on both sides…
The Gastro Center of Maryland, one of the largest GI practices in the state, has opened two new locations — in Bethesda and Silver Spring — bringing its total GI-practice network in Maryland to nine. Becker’s ASC The expansion comes in response to increased demand for digestive care in the region and is part of GCM’s effort to improve access to endoscopy, GI consultations, and complex digestive disease management across the state.
A mailed fecal immunochemical test for colorectal cancer screening, unrequested by the recipient, proved the best way to entice adults 45 to 49 years of age to undergo CRC screening, researchers from UCLA determined. In a randomized trial of 20,509 adults aimed to evaluate the best means of boosting CRC screening among this age group, which became eligible for screening in 2021 under guidelines set by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Of the four strategies tested, the option found to be most acceptable was automatically being mailed a stool-based screening test, with no choice to “opt in” or “opt…
A new Annals of Internal Medicine study reports that hospitals acquired by private equity firms see sharp cuts in staffing and salaries — and a rise in emergency department deaths and patient transfers. Earlier analyses show higher infection rates, more adverse events, and higher costs across private-equity-owned facilities, with no consistent improvements in care. Frontline physicians warn profit-first staffing models are replacing physician-led groups with cheaper labor, jeopardizing patient safety and accelerating burnout. Advocacy groups, including Take Medicine Back and the Association for Independent Medicine, are now pushing state-level action to restore physician control and enforce corporate practice of medicine…