What if you didn’t perform as many colonoscopies — what would you do instead?

In the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare, few voices resonate as profoundly as that of Praveen Suthrum, renowned healthcare futurist, author, and co-founder of NextServices and GI Mastermind. Suthrum will give the opening keynote address at the upcoming AGA Tech Summit, providing context for what is happening now in the field and the transformative potential of innovation and technology in the years to come. AGA staff met with Suthrum to discuss his keynote address and his thoughts about the role of innovation in healthcare, and specifically in gastroenterology.

A visionary perspective
Suthrum’s insights are rooted in a deep understanding of the exponential growth of technology and its implications for healthcare. According to Suthrum, “the future of gastroenterology is not just about incremental improvements but about embracing radical, exponential changes.” Over the next decade, gastroenterology will be defined by its ability to embrace innovation. The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), digital health, and other exponential technologies is set to revolutionize patient care. Technologies such as AI and machine learning already are being integrated into endoscopic procedures, enhancing diagnostic accuracy, and enabling early detection of GI diseases.

Challenges to innovation
Three key challenges facing GI innovators are: 1) creating time and space for groundbreaking advancements, 2) thinking beyond traditional approaches to explore new possibilities, and 3) fully leveraging AI to transform patient care.

Creating time for innovation
Gastroenterologists are among the most brilliant minds in medicine, yet their demanding schedules often prevent them from innovating. Suthrum frequently hears the same concerns from attendees of his GI Mastermind program. 

“Gastroenterologists tell me that they’re often so busy that they don’t have time to innovate,” Suthrum shares. “They’re often told that they need to generate volumes, meet billing targets, and maximize efficiency, which leaves little room for innovation.”