Certificate of Need (CON) regulations are in place for ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) in about 20 states. For most physicians, these regulations stop them from forming their own ASC due to the high cost and complexity of coming into compliance. We want to ask: are CON regulations protecting hospitals from lower-cost competitors (ASCs) and, in the process, contributing to higher health care costs? Unlocking Opportunities for Physicians: Office-Based Procedures as a Solution to High Healthcare Costs Health insurance companies in some CON states have realized that CON is working to the advantage of hospitals and to the detriment of patients and employers…
Author: Rutali Thakur
by Bill Snyder Raymond Burk Jr., MD, former director of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, died May 1 in Nashville. He was 80. Dr. Burk’s recruitment of “master clinicians, passionate educators and world-class investigators” in gastroenterology, nutrition and hepatology (diseases of the liver, pancreas and gall bladder) raised the division’s prominence, said long-time colleague and current division director Richard Peek Jr., MD, who holds the Mina Cobb Wallace Chair in Immunology. “Ray Burk was likely best known for his integrity, humility, compassion, sage insight, and vision,” Peek said.…
Recognizing the growing need for multidisciplinary medicine, the organizers of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract programming at DDW 2023 have put together several sessions that have crossover appeal for GI surgeons and gastroenterologists. Jordan Cloyd, MD, of The Ohio State University, and Yalini Vigneswaran, MD, of the University of Chicago, spoke to Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News about SSAT’s programming, which includes a session on diagnostics and therapeutics for benign esophageal conditions and another on endoscopic management of gastrointestinal surgical complications.
Guidelines that recommend stool-based screening for colorectal cancer should emphasize strict adherence and offer screening colonoscopy as an alternative option, researchers reported in Gastroenterology. “The reasoning for undertaking this investigation hinged on the decades-long belief that CRC was preceded by polyps; this was proven by our National Polyp Study, which demonstrated prevention of CRC by colonoscopic polypectomy. Screening colonoscopy was then incorporated into guidelines,” co-principal study investigators Sidney J. Winawer, MD, and Ann G. Zauber, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, told Healio. “However, studies needed to be initiated to observe its adherence and effectiveness.”
Among the various types of liability that physicians may face, including employee claims, HIPAA violations, cyber liability and slip-and-fall injuries, medical malpractice may be the most impactful. The consequences of possible medical malpractice liability should be considered by physicians who treat relatively young, otherwise-healthy patients because these patients may experience a long period of debilitation should they have an unsatisfactory outcome. That potential liability can multiply significantly, and exposures can easily go beyond the malpractice insurance coverage provided by a traditional $1 million/$3 million malpractice policy and far exceed those limits. These factors came together in the recent malpractice legal…
Gastroenterologist pay has risen 11 percent in the last year, reaching $501,000 annually and outpacing the average specialty physician pay by $119,000. This jump in pay comes as high inflation rates continue to threaten practices, and a new Doximity report shows that many physician salaries are not keeping pace with inflation. Neal Kaushal, MD, a gastroenterologist at Adventist Health in Sonora, Calif., told Becker’s that while inflation is rising nationwide, he does not believe that is the main contributor to growing gastroenterology salaries. Instead, he believes that as the demand for gastroenterologists drives competition for talent among hospitals, ASCs and megagroups, GI physicians are bargaining for higher salaries.
Can you believe Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2023 is just around the corner? We can’t wait to connect with the global digestive disease community for four days of discovery, collaboration and connections. We’ve put together a few reminders and resources below to help you make the most of your time at DDW. Not registered? There’s still time to save your seat either in person or online.
The model provides actionable insights for physicians and could enhance clinical decision-making in resource-constrained regions. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan have created a new artificial intelligence model that could help doctors make more informed decisions about treatment and prognosis for patients with colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The new tool can accurately predict the aggressiveness of a colorectal tumor, the likelihood of survival with and without disease recurrence, and the optimal therapy for the patient, solely by analyzing images of tumor samples, which are microscopic depictions of cancer cells.
DALLAS, May 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — GI Alliance, the nation’s premier gastroenterology management company, and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) are pleased to announce a new group partnership where all providers of GI Alliance are ASGE members. With the launch of this new institutional membership category, GI Alliance has become ASGE’s first group member with the joint goal of advancing the practice of GI. GI Alliance’s provider team includes 785 physicians and 851 advanced practice providers (APPs), all of whom will benefit from the comprehensive membership privileges offered by ASGE. These benefits include cutting-edge education and training, pertinent…
Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an increasingly prevalent condition in the United States and the world. Numerous screening tools have been created to help prevent and identify early cases of CRC, which have led to better outcomes for patients. These screening tools range from stool tests to more invasive procedures like a colonoscopy. With this array of screening options, patients are often presented with a bevy of choices in their primary care clinic and may have difficulty understanding the difference between screening and treatment. Popular culture has also influenced these decisions as both traditional media and social media have weighed…