Becker's ASC Review

77 GASTROENTEROLOGY Where gastroenterology consolidation is headed: One GI physician weighs in By Patsy Newitt K evin Finnegan, MD, a gastroenterologist with One GI and Associated Endoscopy in Brentwood, Tenn., joined Becker's to discuss where consolidation is headed and what growth opportunities he sees in the industry. Editor's note: This interview was edited lightly for clarity and brevity. Question: Where do you think consolidation in the GI field is headed within five years or so? Dr. Kevin Finnegan: We're gonna see more of it. Prospective part- ners that I speak with and individuals that are coming out of fellow- ship, you know, we talk about One GI and I tell them that if you've not heard about consolidation, you will. It's only going to become more prevalent as physicians want to maintain their independence, but need to have more of a say in how that healthcare is delivered. So for those individuals coming into practice who haven't heard of consolidation, they will. It will only become more prevalent and more popular moving forward as an attractive alternative to being employed. I think gone are the days where you get out of training and you go into practice by yourself with maybe one or two other people. That model just won't survive moving forward. Q: Where are the biggest opportunities for growth in GI? KF: Gastroenterology is becoming a lot more specialized, but cer- tainly there's a lot more focus on specific disease processes. There's not just colon cancer screening — there's chronic liver disease and management of folks with chronic liver disease. Fatty liver disease is becoming an epidemic in our country, and we're seeing more in- dividuals with chronic liver disease related to fatty liver. I think treat- ment and development of treatments for these conditions will con- tinue to grow in gastroenterology. Another area that will continue to grow is inflammatory bowel dis- ease, also colitis and Crohn's disease patients. Currently, there are more clinical research trials available for patients to develop drugs for inflammatory bowel disease for our patients to be put in, and so we also understand more about the mechanisms of inflammatory bowel disease. n New GIs need to align themselves with like-minded colleagues, GI says By Patsy Newitt D avid Bridgers, MD, a gastroenterolo- gist with One GI and Gastroenterology Associates & Endoscopy Center of North Mississippi in North Oxford, spoke with Becker's to offer advice for new gastroenter- ologists. Editor's note: This was edited lightly for clarity and brevity. Question: What advice would you give new gastroenterologists about to enter the field? Dr. David Bridgers: Don't let somebody dis- courage you from pursuing practice. I hear a lot of older physicians telling younger physicians, 'Don't go into medicine because it's gonna change too much.' But it's a great field. Medicine, in general, is a great thing to do, and gastroenterology is a great field. You have the potential to do a lot of good in the field of GI — that would be my first thing, don't be discouraged. Also, don't be afraid of change. Do everything you can to educate yourself and align yourself with people that think like you so that when you're facing these changes, you at least have people that support you and are going to work with you on it. It is a big system to try to swim upstream against, and when I say that I mean just the medical industry as a whole, all the enti- ties that are involved in it. So the more that you can align yourself properly, educate yourself properly and motivate yourself properly, the better off you're going to be. n

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