Becker's ASC Review

40 GASTROENTEROLOGY The story behind the Assured Healthcare Partners & Allied Digestive Health deal By Eric Oliver I nvesting firm Assured Healthcare Partners and West Long Branch, N.J.-based Allied Digestive Health struck a deal Jan. 13. Matt Jameson, managing director of Assured Healthcare Partners, and Bob Gialanella, MD, president and CEO of Allied Digestive Health, elaborated on the deal and offered insights into the platform's future. Note: Responses were edited for style and content. Question: With several private equity-backed gastroenterologist platforms in the space, how will you stand out from the competition? Matt Jameson: ADH has always been a physician-centric organization with high quality standards. ADH's partnership model will continue to help high-quality gastroen- terologists in New Jersey and surrounding states focus on providing the best possible clinical care. Q: Three years down the road, what does the AHP/Allied partnership look like? MJ: We expect the culture of ADH to stay the same. e company intends to grow by continuing to add leading gastroenterolo- gists who value working in an independent environment with the support of a sophis- ticated management services organization dedicated to adding value to its physician partners. Q: Why did ADH seek out an inves- tor for your practice? Dr. Bob Gialanella: ADH came together in 2015 through the merger of five leading practices in central New Jersey. Since then, we've added one or more practices each year. Our new partner physicians saw significant economic and lifestyle improvements. We wanted to accelerate our growth, so we con- sidered all of the options. We determined that a partnership with a highly resourced and flexible PE firm with growth and operational expertise was, by far, the most compelling option to capture the market opportunity. Q: How will you use the investment in your practice? BG: Our partnership with AHP should greatly accelerate our growth by allowing us to ramp up our already sizable investments in cutting-edge clinical care, research, talent, IT systems and data analytics to support our continued progression to value-based care. Q: When considering the deal, what was the most important element you needed to know was secure before closing it? BG: For us, it is all about trust and relation- ships. We wanted a partner who would not just provide capital to allow us to achieve our vision, but also help us scale opera- tions and enhance our service delivery and stakeholder partnerships. In AHP, we found the experience, partnership mindset and the right philosophy to achieve these goals. n CMS declines to reimburse for 1st FDA-approved blood-based CRC screening test By Eric Oliver T he FDA declined to extend National Coverage Determi- nation to Epigenomics AG for its Epi proColon, a blood- based colorectal cancer screening test, the company announced Jan. 21. Epigenomics AG will challenge CMS' decision by either ap- pealing or bringing some form of litigation. In October 2020, CMS created a guideline for blood-based tests to earn NCD approval. In its most recent decision, CMS eliminated a condition that would require the test to be recommended by a professional society guideline, consensus statement or U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommen- dation, according to a SeekingAlpha report. CMS did retain a portion of the guideline that relates to sensitivity and specificity. CMS will only cover a test with a sensitivity of at least 74 percent and a specificity of at least 90 percent. n Missouri gastroenterologist to operate new PPE plant By Eric Oliver G astroenterologist Farid Namin, MD, opened a personal protective equipment manu- facturer after overcoming procurement obstacles early in the pandemic, the Kansas City Business Journal reported Jan. 19. The build-out of the plant was expected to be completed in late January. The plant will have the capacity to produce up to 20 million N95 masks, nearly 50 million surgical masks, and 20 million head and shoe covers during its first year, Dr. Nar- min said. The plant will also produce surgical and isolation gowns. Several private investors funded the plant, and Dr. Namin also received a $394,000 CARES Act grant. Dr. Namin is a gastroenterologist at Independence, Mo.-based Jackson County Gastroenterology. n

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