Psychological therapies may lead to short-term benefits in quality of life for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but the same cannot be said for disease activity, results from a systematic review and meta-analysis suggested. Looking at data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from 2016 to 2023, psychological therapy led to improvements in quality-of-life scores versus control treatment among patients with active IBD in four RCTs at therapy completion (standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.68, 95% CI 0.09-1.26), though no benefit was noted for anxiety scores in two RCTs (SMD -1.04, 95% CI -2.46 to 0.39).
Author: Abhay Panchal
CHICAGO—The total costs for a single endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography procedure at a large-scale endoscopy center are essentially half of those at smaller centers, and a 0.2% increase in infection rate added nearly $100 per ERCP, regardless of location, according to a new study. The researchers analyzed capital costs, fixed equipment costs and varying infection rates associated with reusable duodenoscopes during ERCPs. The infection rate across the published studies in the analysis averaged 0.9%. In a simulation of different infection rates, they found that a drop in infections of 0.2% decreased costs by the same amount—$97.19 per procedure—regardless of the volume…
Although the number of women in healthcare has continued to rise over the past few decades, procedural-predominant specialties still lag in terms of representation. This trend is evident in gastroenterology with less than 20% of practicing gastroenterologists in the U.S. being female.1 As such, representation in positions of leadership in the specialty remains rare. When Michelle Kang Kim, MD, PhD, was named Chair, Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition at Cleveland Clinic last year, she became one of just a handful of gastrointestinal chairs in the county.
Dr. K continues his interviews at Digestive Disease Week. This time he’s hearing from the voices of the practices. To stream our Station live 24/7 visit www.HealthcareNOWRadio.com or ask your Smart Device to “….Play Healthcare NOW Radio”.
It started with a conversation over dinner, three doctors mulling over a perplexing question: why is the U.S. healthcare system run by politicians instead of people with clinical expertise? Unlike in law and financial services, there is no independent board – no high court or central bank – that provides oversight of the complex U.S. healthcare industry. Instead, healthcare policy is set at the Cabinet level, under the Department of Health and Human Services. And consider this: Only four physicians have ever been named to head HHS (and not a single nurse or other healthcare professional.
Atmo Biosciences, a company commercializing the world’s first ingestible gas-sensing capsule that provides insights into gut health and microbiome function, today announced it has commenced a pivotal clinical study to assess the use of the Atmo Gas Capsule to measure gastrointestinal transit time in patients with suspected motility disorders. The study involves simultaneous ingestion of the Atmo Gas Capsule and predicate device SmartPill to demonstrate the ability of Atmo’s gas-sensing capsule to assess whole and regional gut transit. Clinicians evaluate regional gut transit to help diagnose motility disorders such as gastroparesis (delayed emptying from the stomach), and slow transit constipation…
I’m Dr Kenny Lin. I am a family physician and associate director of the Lancaster General Hospital Family Medicine Residency, and I blog at Common Sense Family Doctor. I’m 47 years old. Two years ago, when the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) followed the American Cancer Society (ACS) and lowered the starting age for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening from 50 to 45, my family physician brought up screening options at a health maintenance visit. Although I had expressed some skepticism about this change when the ACS updated its screening guideline in 2018, I generally follow the USPSTF recommendations in…
DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Peak Gastroenterology Associates (“Peak” or “the Company”), the largest provider of gastroenterology and related ancillary diagnostic and therapeutic services in Colorado and a subsidiary of Gastro Care Partners (“GCP”), today announced that Dr. Mary Ann Y. Huang has been named one of “Denver’s Top Doctors 2023” by local Denver magazine 5280, and recognized by Castle Connolly as one of the nation’s “Top Asian American and Pacific Islander Doctors 2023.”
In 2022, 34% of physicians earned income from a source outside their practice, the highest percentage since statistics started being tracked in 2017, indicating a rising trend of medical professionals pursuing extracurricular moneymaking opportunities. The data, published by Medical Economics, showed that consulting was the top source of secondary income for physicians, followed by teaching.
How can we use biomarkers to treat patients with ulcerative colitis? That’s the exact question the latest guideline from the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) sought to address. Learn about this guideline and other best practices with Dr. Peter Buch and Dr. Siddharth Singh, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California-San Diego and co-author of an article published in Gastroenterology in March 2023 titled “AGA Clinical Practice Guideline on the Role of Biomarkers for the Management of Ulcerative Colitis.