While COVID was on and people sought help through meditation apps, the business world of behavioral health made a big announcement. Headspace (an app started by a former Buddhist monk) merged with Ginger.io to create Headspace Health in a $3 billion merger. You read that right.
It’s only natural that behavioral health showed up in gastroenterology. Curious, I reached out to GI psychologists Dr. Megan Riehl from Michigan Medicine and Dr. Madison Simons from Cleveland Clinic. What were these large institutions up to in this space? Why were they hiring psychogastroenterologists? Was there patient demand for something like this? What role would cognitive behavior therapy play in digital health?
Well, this is an evolving space with high demand – especially for those GI conditions that don’t have straightforward solutions. Mental health and its role in the making and management of GI conditions is a space to watch. Explore if this could be a brand new ancillary for private practice GI. Well, the brain-gut axis has a significant role to play in GI’s future (watch this one)
◘ What exactly is psychogastroenterology?
◘ “I have over 100 GIs and trainees that can refer to our behavioral health program”
◘ What GI conditions are treated by behavioral interventions?
◘ What kind of tools are used by a GI psychologist?
◘ “The patient’s confidence to manage their symptoms gets better”
◘ Are GIs open to GI psychologists?
◘ “There are just over 400 GI psychologists worldwide”
◘ The evolving field of digital health in the realm of GI psychology
◘ “I hope we can have a treatment that’s specifically designed for anxiety and fear around eating”
◘ “GI OnDemand is a platform for patients to understand their conditions”