Becker's ASC Review

86 GASTROENTEROLOGY Gastroenterology is 'really warming up' to telehealth, Vivante Health CEO says By Riz Hatton G astroenterology has the second highest telemedicine usage of any adult speciality, according to Doximity's "State of Telemedicine Report." Bill Snyder, CEO of Vivante Health, a digital health company, spoke with Becker's on June 29 to discuss where telehealth stands in gastroenterology and where it's headed. Vivante Health created GIrive, a gastroenterology telehealth platform. Editor's note: Responses have been edited lightly for length and clarity. Question: What's the temperature of telehealth usage in GI right now? Bill Snyder: It's really warming up. ere's a ton of increased interest from individuals and from large employers and health plans as well. Q: What are some of the benefits and drawbacks of telehealth in GI? BS: Unfortunately a lot of these conditions are difficult for people to talk about because you're talking about symptoms that happen in the bathroom. ey have an unfair stigma associated with these conditions. A huge opportunity and benefit is it provides a safe space for people to start having that conversation especially because you can do it through different means of communication. It might be a video chat or messaging back and forth with a care provider. at's a huge benefit — that people can have that access. In addition to giving people the opportunity to feel empowered and start that conversation, it also provides the virtual access component. For people who maybe have limited access to providers, it's a great way for people everywhere to access this type of care. I don't see specific drawbacks related to GI care as it relates to telehealth. In virtual care and healthcare in general, I always think there's an opportunity to improve how we're sharing information. So ensuring the information we're capturing in conversations with the members [is shared with] other care providers is really important to facilitate that kind of bidirectional information sharing so that any care team member has a holistic and personalized view of the individual. Q: Looking toward the future, how do you see telehealth being used in the GI space? BS: I think it will continue to grow because we're seeing increased prevalence of GI conditions across the U.S. e need will just continue to grow. ere's a great opportunity to continue to empower people, to really show symptom reduction and get people feeling better. [As well as] to improve things like medication adherence and to avoid things like people ending up in the emergency room. at continued access to information and a personalized care team is going to be more and more important. n GI tech world has 'a ton of opportunity,' CEO says By Riz Hatton T here are many new technologies swirling around the gastroenterology space. Bill Snyder, CEO of Vivante Health, a digital health company, spoke with Becker's on May 25 about the most influential of these technologies and more. Vivante Health is the creator of GIThrive, a GI telehealth platform. Editor's note: Responses have been edited lightly for length and clarity. Question: What GI technologies do you believe are or will be the most influential? Bill Synder: There's a couple that I think are really exciting. There's some really unique innovations in general when I think about things like capsule endoscopies and [artificial intelligence]-based precision medicine. So using AI in the endoscopy process to identify polys more accurately. Those are some things that I see in the market that I'm familiar with that are being utilized more and more. In terms of the telehealth aspect of GI, there's a ton of opportunity there. We're just starting to really see a movement in some really good advancements in the telehealth space. When I think about what will be most influential, I always bucket it into three key things: 1. Longitudinal monitoring and novel habitual biomarkers. That ability to get more precise information on patients over a period of time that we otherwise would have access to. 2. AI and machine learning. The ability to utilize technology to evaluate all that data and to predict the onset of different conditions and their progression. 3. Information sharing. As we're capturing all that information and [using it] to inform clinical decisions, it's the ability to share that information back with all of the different care members that work with the patient. Q: Where does GIThrive fit in the tech space? BS: [Vivante Health] is a digital first platform, so we utilize our app and web platform and work with individuals on that continuous monitoring approach. Our focus is capturing that information on an ongoing basis from our members, then utilizing technology and a remote care team to intervene and create some behavior change with the member to reduce their symptoms and get them feeling better. A big piece of what we do is try to be additive to the care ecosystem. We're really trying to reinforce that relationship that a member may have with a primary care physician or gastroenterologist. So we want to give them more information on the member and give information back to the patient so that they have a better idea of what's going on with their condition or what their symptoms might be. n

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