After being diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer, Jason McGrath is launching a blood test nationwide for the third-most common form of cancer in the U.S. Two years ago, McGrath, a U.S. Air Force veteran who fought in the Iraq War, was a healthy 42-year-old playing basketball when he felt stabbing pain in his stomach and started turning green.
Author: Rutali Thakur
The concept of hybrid care has seemingly been everywhere since the start of the year. It showed up in a number of industry predictions for 2023, was the subject of questions lobbed at Teladoc in their most recent earnings call, and is at the root of agreements like CVS’s purchase of Oak Street Health and Amazon’s rollout of One Medical. Part of this is because healthcare is now following the proven model of convergence in other industries like ecommerce and retail. But healthcare has its own flavor, what we like to call hybrid collaborative care. Rather than simply acquiring or…
Dr. Lisa Mathew interviews Dr. Veena Shankaran, co-director of Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research, about a new study that found most patients with metastatic colorectal cancer face financial hardship after diagnosis. While has been a lot of research on the economic burden of cancer treatment, this is the first study that looks at newly diagnosed patients. The study found that more than 70 percent of patients with metastic colorectal cancer faced financial hardships within a year of diagnosis, even with most having health insurance. Join Dr. Mathew and Dr. Shankaran to hear how financial complications affect treatment and outcomes for many patients,…
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Hello. I’m Dr David Johnson, professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. Welcome back to another GI Common Concerns. The stethoscope is something that we almost always have in our coat pocket to use on our patients, perhaps to listen to their heart or maybe their abdomen. But what do we do with that information? In a recently published review, Dr Larry Brandt, one of the true masters of gastroenterology and the renowned educators during my 40 years in the field, expounds on the use…
Private equity has seen a huge opportunity in gastroenterology in the last few years. Here are 10 gastroenterology groups, followed by their private equity partner and number of physicians: GI Alliance (Southlake, Texas) Private equity partner: Apollo Hybrid Number of physicians: 786+ PE GI Solutions (Jamison, Pa.) Private equity partner: Kelso Number of physicians: 600+
A new treatment option may help relieve chronic constipation in patients who might not respond well to traditional therapies. To learn more about a novel FDA-approved vibrating capsule, join Dr. Peter Buch as he speaks with Dr. Eamonn Quigley, the David M. Underwood Chair of Medicine in Digestive Disorders and a Professor of Medicine at Houston Methodist.
Patient Needs, Medicare Rules Continue to Shift Specialties with the biggest increases in compensation include oncology, anesthesiology, gastroenterology, radiology, critical care, and urology. Many procedure-related specialties saw more volume post pandemic. Some respondents identified Medicare cuts and low reimbursement rates as a factor in tamping down compensation hikes. The number of physicians who expect to continue to take new Medicare patients is 65%, down from 71% 5 years ago. For example, Medicare reimbursements for telehealth are expected to scale down in May, when the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, which expanded telehealth services for Medicare patients, winds down. “Telehealth will still…
Last December, in Upper Darby, an 85,000-person suburban community outside of Philadelphia, many residents, when they entered “hospital” into their map app and rushed to their local hospital to seek urgent medical care, found that the emergency room—and indeed the entire Delaware County Memorial facility—had closed. Far from unique, this story is horrifyingly familiar. Why? Private equity—that is, investor groups that operate outside of the stock market, thus being largely shielded from public investor scrutiny—plays a leading role. Understanding the role private equity is playing in health care is critical; only then can we begin to design solutions to the…
There are many over-the-counter probiotic food additions that one can eat, and now the FDA has approved the first oral microbiome to be used as a therapeutic. The agency has greenlighted Seres Therapeutics’ live microbiome capsule Vowst, previously coded SER-109, to prevent recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection, a potentially deadly disease. While antibiotics are mostly effective at knocking back C. difficile, they also disrupt the gut microbiome ecosystem. For its part, Vowst introduces purified Firmicutes spores, a type of “good” microbiome, to outcompete C. difficile and therefore restore gut health.
Bethesda, MD (April 25, 2023) — The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) is proud to announce the 71 recipients selected to receive research funding through its annual AGA Research Foundation Awards Program. The program serves as a catalyst for discovery and career growth among the most promising researchers in gastroenterology and hepatology. “This year’s recipients are determined to make an impact on digestive health care through their research,” said Michael Camilleri, MD, AGAF, chair, AGA Research Foundation. “We are honored to support these talented individuals at a critical stage in their careers and research projects. We look forward to seeing their great accomplishments.”