Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1475204
29 GASTROENTEROLOGY United Digestive, GI Alliance and more: 10 industry updates By Riz Hatton Here are 10 updates on gastroenterology companies Becker's reported on during the second quarter: Gastro Health • Gastro Health opened a Hygieacare center in Miami to prepare patients for colonoscopies. • Gastro Health added Annapolis, Md.-based Digestive Disorders Associates to its network. • Gastro Health selected Alan Oliver as the platform's new COO. • Gastro Health added Towson, Md.-based Goldberg, Rosenstein, Khan & Forman, MD, PA and Kennewick, Wash.-based Tri- Cities Endoscopy Center to its network. GI Alliance • GI Alliance is leasing a 12,400-square-foot space to open a prac- tice in Little Rock, Ark. • GI Alliance partnered with Digestive Health Specialists in Kansas City, Mo., entering the Kansas and Missouri markets. • GI Alliance partnered with Gastroenterology Consultants, ex- panding its presence in the Houston area. Gastro Care Partners • Gastro Care Partners selected Douglas Adler, MD, as the next editor-in-chief of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. United Digestive • United Digestive added a Savannah, Ga., liver health center to its network. • United Digestive named Neal Patel, MD, as its president. n The ACA colonoscopy billing violation that's all too common By Marcus Robertson P reventive colonoscopies, which are usually scheduled every 10 years starting at age 45, are supposed to be free for patients, according to the Affordable Care Act. Hospitals and providers are allowed to change to a more expensive billing code if a colonoscopy is con- sidered diagnostic rather than preventive, but the distinction isn't always clear. Removal of a polyp is sometimes the reason a provider changes the bill- ing code from screening to diagnostic, Kaiser Health News reported May 31. A patient of Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth Health discovered that firsthand when she received her colo- noscopy bill and was surprised to find she owed more than $2,000 after having a polyp removed during a screening, the report said. However, CMS has clarified multiple times that polyp removal is an integral part of screening colonoscopies and should not be considered a valid reason for a colo- noscopy to be billed as a diagnostic procedure. After Kaiser made an inquiry, a representative speaking on behalf of the health system reached out to say that the diagnosis codes had inadvertently been dropped from the system and that the patient's claim was being reprocessed, the report said. Cigna, the patient's insurer, also reached out to Kaiser after an inquiry. A spokesperson said in a statement that the patient's claim was reprocessed and she wouldn't be responsible for any out- of-pocket costs. n PE GI Solutions, Garden State Endoscopy form joint venture with Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas By Riz Hatton G astroenterology-focused ASC management service organization PE GI Solutions and Mountainside, N.J.-based Garden State Endoscopy, a 14-physician practice, have formed a joint venture with Robert Wood Johnson Barn- abas in West Orange, N.J. The joint venture with New Jersey's largest healthcare system makes Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Garden State En- doscopy's hospital system partner, according to a March 29 news release from PE GI solutions. The partnership will allow all parties to work toward scaling growth in New Jersey, according to the news release. n