Dispense with everything you know about virtual reality, says Dr. Brennan Spiegel at the start of his new book, VRx: How Virtual Therapeutics will Revolutionize Medicine. VR isn’t “a toy for pimply, pent-up teens to play first-person shooter games in their parents’ basement.” Nor is it about the goofy-looking goggles that have made their way onto the consumer market. VR, Dr. Spiegel says, “is a way to deliberately and predictably modify how we feel and how we think. It’s a platform that connects us to our heart, mind, and body.”
Author: Praveen Suthrum
This week in our AGA Community Roundtable, Bridging the Gap: Where are we in Achieving Diversity and Inclusion in Gastroenterology, our experts have been discussing strategies and efforts to help achieve diversity and inclusion in our field. Below is a preview of the discussion taking place. We encourage you to post your questions for our panelists and follow along with the conversation by clicking “Follow” to receive email updates from the Roundtable. The roundtable will end Sunday, Feb. 21, 11:59 p.m. EST.
Work-life balance was the top concern by far among gastroenterologists, according to responses in the Medscape Gastroenterologist Lifestyle, Happiness & Burnout Report 2021. Gastroenterologists were split 50-50, however, as to whether they would sacrifice some of their salary for better balance. Nearly half (48%) of survey respondents listed work-life balance concerns as most important, more than twice the percentage who were most concerned about compensation (22%), the next most common answer.
Physician practices were the most common targets for investors in January as buyers anticipate a rebound in patient volumes as COVID-19 cases decline, according to a Feb. 22 report from Bloomberg Law. KPMG compiled the report for Bloomberg, detailing the terms of 258 overall healthcare transactions last month. There were 45 sales involving physician practices.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on patient volumes, according to a Feb. 22 report from The Commonwealth Fund. Visits declined for all specialties examined by the organization. Percent decline by specialty: Pediatrics: 27 percentPulmonology: 27 percentENT: 25 percentPhysical medicine: 25 percent
The new year has coincided with a rapid increase in private equity investment in the gastroenterology space. The rumors that Miami-based Gastro Health could be for sale have dominated early conversations in the space. Becker’s ASC Review spoke with several analysts exploring the rumors further to examine what a deal could look like. There have been six deals so far: 1. January 2021: Dallas-based GI Alliance made the first deals of 2021, partnering with Cleburne (Texas) Endoscopy Center, Oak Lawn, Ill.-based GI Associates of Chicago and Dallas-based Digestive Health Associates of Texas.
CRH Medical signed a new five-year exclusive management services agreement with United Digestive after months of negotiations. Under the management services agreement, CRH will continue providing anesthesia services to United Digestive surgery centers and may provide services to additional facilities in the future, according to a Feb. 23 announcement. CRH will also retain a material portion of EBITDA earned through its current arrangement with United Digestive under the new contract.
Recently, Medtronic released a video showing how Pillcam (in partnership with Amazon) will enable home-based colonoscopy screening. Watch Giovanni Di Napoli, President of Medtronic GI sharing that vision. Naturally, I was curious to find out more and interviewed Giovanni few days ago. In this interview, he walks us through how Pillcam and GI Genius will evolve in the coming years. GI Genius is already approved in Europe and helps endoscopists use AI in detecting polyps. Further, he reflects on whether he sees Cologuard as competition or not and if insurances would mandate payment on adenoma detection rate (ADR). We also…
Solvd Health is developing a colorectal neoplasia test that detects precancerous polyps with 90 percent accuracy. The FDA granted the test Breakthrough Device designation in September 2019, and CMS announced Jan. 12, the test would receive Medicare coverage through a new pathway approved by the FDA. The Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology final rule is automatically providing devices with Breakthrough designation Medicare coverage once they receive market authorization.
In recent weeks, big tech companies have been lending their expertise, money and labor to the country’s COVID-19 vaccination effort. Below are 10 recent instances of big tech companies offering their assistance to the U.S. vaccine campaign: Amazon’s CEO of consumer business, Dave Clark, sent a letter to President Joe Biden shortly after he was sworn in offering the company’s help in distributing COVID-19 vaccines. Mr. Clark said Amazon would use its operations, IT and communications capabilities to help the government distribute vaccines and that the company had agreements with licensed third-party healthcare providers to administer vaccines on-site at Amazon facilities.