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:
- 40M Americans eligible for CRC screening
- Only ~9M screening colonoscopies performed annually
- 19M more patients still need access
- High hassle factor + rare but real risks continue to limit uptake
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.