GastroGPT, a specialty-specific artificial intelligence (AI) model tailored for gastroenterology, has shown superior performance in key clinical tasks within the field when compared to leading general-purpose large language models (LLMs) such as OpenAI’s GPT-4, Google’s Bard, and Anthropic’s Claude. This was revealed in a proof-of-concept study presented at the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Week 2023. Key Highlights: Simsek highlighted the potential of AI systems like GastroGPT to provide quality GI care to underserved patient populations, especially in low- and middle-income countries. He believes tools like GastroGPT could democratize access to expert-level GI care globally.
Author: Abhay Panchal
A surprising new study has found the gender gap between male and female gastroenterologists extends to Medicare reimbursements. Based on coding, it is reasonable to expect Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) billing to be gender-neutral, but female gastroenterologists were found to receive approximately 15% less in Medicare reimbursements than their male counterparts, according to Shaina Hasan, MD, an internal medicine resident at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. Although “much of the discussion regarding gender pay gaps can be subjective,” Dr. Hasan said the difference in Medicare reimbursement found in her study “was substantial even after multiple adjustments.”…
A study from the Netherlands suggests that individuals aged 75 years or older, who are at the upper age limit for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, and who had a negative fecal immunochemical test (FIT) but a detectable fecal hemoglobin (f-Hb) concentration during their last screening, are nearly five times more likely to develop CRC compared to those with no detectable f-Hb concentration. Key Points:
A cloud-based artificial intelligence system, named Caddie, has shown significant improvements in the detection of adenomas, including those that are hard to detect in the proximal colon. This was especially evident when used by non-expert endoscopists in the UK. The findings were presented at UEG week. Rawen Kader, MRCP, PhD, a clinical research fellow at University College London, emphasized that while many previous trials in this field were conducted by expert endoscopists, the main advantage of AI in polyp detection was hoped to benefit non-expert endoscopists. Key findings from the study include: Rawen Kader also highlighted that each increase in…
Optum’s data and analytics division experienced a 35% year-over-year revenue growth following its acquisition of Change Healthcare for $13 billion. This was highlighted in UnitedHealth Group’s third-quarter earnings report released on October 13th. The report also mentioned that the revenue backlog surged by over $7 billion, reaching a total of more than $31 billion compared to the previous year. The growth in revenue was attributed not only to the acquisition but also to the technology products and services from Optum Insight that are marketed to health systems, payers, and life sciences organizations. For the third quarter, Optum’s overall revenue stood…
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A real-time, blood-sensing capsule (PillSense, EnteraSense Ltd) that detects upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is safe and effective for patients before undergoing upper endoscopy, according to results from the first US open-label, single-arm comparative clinical trial of a novel bleeding sensor for patients with suspected UGIB. It is also the largest such trial. This tool is rapidly deployed, safe to use, and easy to interpret, study researchers say. In under 7 minutes, the capsule correctly detected the presence of blood in 26 of 28 patients and its absence in 87 of 96 patients, as confirmed afterward by esophagogastroduodenoscopy…
CHICAGO—On average, surgeons are much less likely than gastroenterologists to detect adenomas during routine screening colonoscopy, according to a VA data set. Based on the lower relative adenoma detection rate (ADR), the disparity “highlights potential opportunities for quality improvement,” according to study investigator Andrew J. Gawron, MD, PhD, a gastroenterologist at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System and an assistant professor at the University of Utah, also in Salt Lake City. The study analyzed 669,434 colonoscopies performed by 1,095 unique providers between October 2018 and September 2022. Although gastroenterologists greatly outnumbered surgeons (906 vs. 189) and performed 88.8%…
Debulking, when combined with standard systemic therapy, did not have a significant negative effect on the overall quality of life in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. This was revealed in a study published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. However, the study also found that patients who underwent the debulking procedure experienced serious adverse events at a rate twice as high as those who received standard treatment. Study Details: Future Implications: Bakkerus emphasized the need for further exploration, given the significant complications from local treatment without a noticeable dip in patients’ perceived quality of life. She suggested…
TOPLINE: People aged 75 years or older (the upper age limit of colorectal cancer [CRC] screening) who had a negative fecal immunochemical test (FIT) but a detectable fecal hemoglobin (f-Hb) concentration at their last screening are nearly five times as likely to develop CRC than are those with no detectable f-Hb concentration, suggests a study from the Netherlands. METHODOLOGY:
A cloud-based artificial intelligence system named Caddie has shown significant improvement in the detection of adenomas, especially the hard-to-detect lesions in the proximal colon. This was observed when used by non-expert endoscopists in the UK. The findings were presented at UEG week. Rawen Kader, MRCP, PhD, a clinical research fellow at University College London, emphasized that while most previous trials in this field were conducted by expert endoscopists, the main advantage of AI polyp detection was expected to benefit non-expert endoscopists. Key findings from the study: Thought-Provoking Questions/Insights: