At DDW 2025, Thomas Imperiale, MD, laid out a reality the GI community can no longer ignore: Demand is outpacing capacity.Millions more Americans now qualify for colorectal cancer screening — and we don’t have enough colonoscopists to keep up. A few compelling numbers he shared: While colonoscopy remains the gold standard — high sensitivity, long protective interval, and the ability to diagnose and treat in one session — Dr. Imperiale warned that the current system cannot scale.
Author: Abhay Panchal
Here are 10 updates on gastroenterology technologies and AI programs that are advancing the industry forward, as reported on by Becker’s this year.
What if the future of colorectal cancer screening didn’t require a scope… or even stool? A new study in The American Journal of Gastroenterology suggests that an AI-driven fragmentomics blood test from GC Genome may detect: • >90% of colorectal cancers• Early-stage disease (including T1N0, eligible for endoscopic cure)• Precancerous adenomas — something most blood tests fail to do Even more surprising? Performance stayed strong regardless of tumor location or patient age — a known blind spot for many technologies. Is this an alternative pathway for early CRC prevention — or another test competing for limited screening attention?
Blood-based colorectal cancer screening is entering a new era with FDA-approved and emerging tests like Shield and Simple Screen. Alongside updated stool-based options such as Cologuard Plus and CRC-PREVENT, clinicians now have a broader landscape of noninvasive tools to consider and discuss with their patients. Joining Dr. Peter Buch to talk about current recommendations and potential future directions for colorectal cancer screening is Dr. Aasma Shaukat. Dr. Shaukat is the Robert M. and Mary H. Glickman Professor of Medicine and a Professor of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, as well as the Director of Outcomes Research in…
Identifying the one harmful mutation hidden among tens of thousands in a patient’s genome remains one of medicine’s hardest challenges — especially for people waiting years for a diagnosis. A new model from Harvard Medical School, called popEVE, could change that. It doesn’t just flag risky variants — it ranks them by predicted disease severity, even identifying previously unknown genetic causes of devastating childhood disorders. Clinicians say it could help finally answer the question families have waited too long to hear: | “What’s causing this?” But can AI truly transform the rare disease diagnostic pipeline?
As patient expectations evolve, 13 technologies are quietly determining which practices grow — and which get left behind. Healthcare providers are being asked to do the impossible: increase patient volume while managing staff shortages, reimbursement pressure, and rising consumer demands. And patients are no longer waiting. Medical Economics reports that people now expect healthcare to match the digital ease of retail and travel — instant scheduling, clear navigation, fast responses, and flexible access. When a practice falls short, patients don’t complain… they simply go elsewhere. This shift has turned technology from a back-office efficiency tool into a front-door growth engine.…
With demand for colonoscopy and GI procedures surging, ambulatory endoscopy centers (AECs) are accelerating in the U.S. — now representing ~68% of Medicare-billing ASCs, most focused on GI. A recent OlympusTalks podcast featuring Dr. Nalini Guda (GI Associates, WI) and Dr. Neil Parikh (Connecticut GI / GI Alliance) highlights why AECs continue to gain ground — and what challenges remain. 3 Major Pain Points AECs Address ✔ Access: Faster scheduling, purpose-built throughput✔ Cost: Lower facility expense than hospitals; efficient single-specialty workflow✔ Patient Experience: Predictable timing, no hospital delays — “no bumping for emergencies”
Early-career gastroenterologists are frequently asked: “What’s your niche?” — often implying they must immediately declare themselves the IBD specialist, the liver expert, or the advanced endoscopist. In this commentary, Alicia H. Muratore, MD, MBA (UNC) challenges that assumption.As a trainee, she pursued obesity medicine, nutrition, informatics, and workflow redesign — interests that didn’t fit neatly into any classic sub-subspecialty. With support from program leadership, she recognized that a “niche” can emerge not from a title, but from a unique way of seeing problems and building solutions.
A new national AGA survey reveals 63% of Americans now view obesity as a chronic disease — not a personal failure. And more than 8 in 10 believe insurance should pay for medical treatment, including GLP-1 therapies and bariatric surgery. Yet despite this shift, cost and lack of coverage remain the biggest barriers — leaving millions unable to access treatments that could prevent liver disease and other serious GI conditions.As obesity care reshapes GI practice, the policy gap is widening. If Congress doesn’t act on the long-stalled Treat and Reduce Obesity Act, patients—and GI clinicians—remain stuck.
The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) has urged the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider certain inclusion and exclusion criteria when asking sponsors to conduct clinical trials for drugs to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The group commented on two draft guidances on the topic and asked the agency to convene public meetings to allow more dialogue before the guidances are finalized.