Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1199058
38 GASTROENTEROLOGY Peak Gastroenterology acquired by Varsity Healthcare Partners — 4 insights By Eric Oliver C olorado Springs, Colo.-based Peak Gastroenterology partnered with Varsity Healthcare Partners, marking Varsity's first investment into gastroenterology, PE Hub reports. What you should know: 1. Varsity is the investment firm behind Orthopedic Care Partners, IdealOption, Emergency Care Partners, Probo Medical and Angels of Care Pediatric Home Health. The firm is heavily established in the orthopedic space, where OCP is an established platform. 2. Peak Gastroenterology's Buck Patel, MD, and Prashant Krishnan, MD, will remain shareholders and will continue to lead the practice, PE Hub reports. 3. Peak checks all the boxes of a typical PE investment. The 26-physician group has seven clinical locations and 11 endoscopy centers or GI laboratories, and is affiliated with 10 hospitals. 4. If Varsity continues to make investments in GI, it will be- come the sixth competing platform in the space. n ASGE presses for bill to close screening loophole, raise Medicare payments By Rachel Popa T he American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy penned a letter voicing its support for a House bill that would lower drug costs for seniors and update Medicare payments in 2021. The bill, titled the "Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act," would close the "screening loophole," a situation where Medicare beneficiaries are required to foot the bill for a colonoscopy if a precancerous or cancerous polyp is removed. The bill also proposes a 0.5 percent physician payment update for Medicare rates for 2020 and 2021. The bill also would require CMS to negotiate prices for certain drugs, including insulin, nongeneric drugs and more than 100 drugs that account for the highest spending nationally. n Austin Gastroenterology building endoscopy, colon prep center — 3 insights By Eric Oliver A ustin (Texas) Gastroenterology is building a combined endoscopy and HyGIeaCare center at its office in Lakeway-Bee Cave, Texas, Commu- nity Impact reports. What you should know: 1. The center should open in spring 2020. 2. The HyGIeaCare Center features the HyGIeaCare machine, which is an alternative bowel preparation machine. HyGIeaCare allows patients to bypass the consumable preparation solution in favor of a mildly invasive preparation solution. 3. This will be the practice's third endoscopy center. n GI Alliance acquires GastroArkansas, expands into 6th state — 3 insights By Eric Oliver D allas-based GI Alliance acquired Little Rock- based GastroArkansas, marking the sixth state the gastroenterology services organization has expanded into. What you should know: 1. GastroArkansas was the first multiphysician gastro- enterology practice formed in Arkansas and has since become the largest independent group in the state. 2. GI Alliance now represents more than 315 gastroen- terologists across six states. 3. GI Alliance will support the practice's administrative efforts, allowing its physicians to dedicate their time to patients. GI Alliance CEO Jim Weber, MD, commented on the group's expansion efforts: "GI Alliance has held true to its stringent criteria for partner group selection — which begin and end with an unwavering commitment to quality patient care. For every group that joins us, mul- tiple others fall short of our standards." n