Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1471343
31 GASTROENTEROLOGY GI Alliance opens markets in Kansas, Missouri By Riz Hatton Southlake, Texas-based GI Alliance has partnered with Digestive Health Specialists in Kansas City, Mo., gaining entrance to the Kansas and Missouri markets, GI Alliance said May 3. Digestive Health Specialists is the largest independent practice in Missouri, with 19 gastroenterologists and nine advanced practice providers in five locations, according to the news release. It serves the greater Kansas City market as well as pa- tients from Iowa and Kansas. n Technology has 'transformed' GI — and physicians must keep up, Medtronic exec says By Riz Hatton T echnology's presence in medi- cine is accelerating, and gas- troenterology is no exception. Austin Chiang, MD, chief medical of- ficer of gastrointestinal at Medtronic, spoke with Becker's April 29 to discuss how gastroenterology tech has evolved and what about it excites and scares him. Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Question: How has GI technology evolved over the past decade? Dr. Austin Chiang: I think that the technology has totally transformed our field considering that Medtronic GI has an entire business the way it is today that didn't exist when I gradu- ated from medical school a little over 10 years ago. I think in general one of the goals I see especially from the therapeutic GI end of things is that we're trying to make procedures less invasive. I also see certain trends in terms of digital technologies impact- ing our field and clearly artificial intelligence and machine learning is a part of that most recently. Q: What scares/excites you the most about these new tech devel- opments? AC: What excites me the most is that these are truly disruptive technolo- gies and keeping with the times. The internet, the digital age and seeing how that intersects with healthcare is very exciting and not something that I think people would've neces- sarily imagined several decades ago. What probably scares me the most is that we're moving so quickly now in this very interconnected world and we are able to innovate much more quickly than we have been. Yet as physicians we also need to learn to adapt and be early adopters of new technologies to really keep up with everything that's coming out. n Where AI stands in gastroenterology today By Riz Hatton T he buzz about artificial intelligence in gastroenterology has yet to settle. Here's a pulse check on where AI stands in the GI industry today. A study published in Gastroenterology showed that using artificial intelligence during colonoscopies may help decrease ad- enoma miss rates. In the study, AI-assisted colonoscopies saw an adenoma miss rate of 15.5 percent, compared to 32.4 percent with the standard colonoscopy. AI is not only helpful when it comes to detec- tion, but according to a study published in The Lancet Digital Health, using the technol- ogy during colonoscopy screenings could save the country $290 million annually. "e whole purpose of screening colonos- copy is that if we can pick up things earlier and prevent colorectal cancer potentially, we can reduce a lot of downstream costs that are related to colon cancer," Austin Chiang, MD, chief medical officer of gastrointestinal at Medtronic told Becker's April 29. So if we can prevent patients from undergo- ing big complex surgeries or really costly treatments, then that'll save the healthcare system a lot of money down the road." e use of AI-assisted colonoscopies and endoscopies isn't a loy idea. Some health- care facilities have already begun to imple- ment the technologies. Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, Calif., is the state's first hospital to perform a procedure using GI Genius, Medtronic's AI endoscopy module. In Georgia, Augusta (Ga.) University Health is the first in the state to offer artificial intelligence-assisted colonoscopy. As the industry continues to welcome AI with open arms, medtech companies are taking advantage of GI's next big thing. "In the [artificial intelligence] space, there are multiple groups all working on the same thing. I think everybody wants to develop detection technology. Really every endoscope company in the world is trying to develop similar technologies," Michael Wallace, MD, chief of gastroenterology and hepatology at Mayo Clinic/Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City in Abu Dhabi, told Becker's. n