Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1531804
20 GASTROENTEROLOGY 2024's major GI partnerships By Claire Wallace Here are 16 notable gastroenterology partnerships to know since the beginning of 2024: 1. Global diagnostics company Bracco Diagnostics partnered with virtual colonoscopy company ColoWatch to deliver new solutions for imaging facilities to expand the availability of colorectal cancer screenings using virtual colonoscopy. 2. GI management services provider United Digestive partnered with Gihealth, a patient adherence and education platform. e partnership aims to enhance patient care and streamline the patient preparation process for GI procedures. 3. Tacoma-based Washington Gastroenterology launched a collaboration with WovenX Health, a provider of specialty-focused virtual services and soware solutions. e partnership aims to leverage WovenX's telehealth program to aid Washington's GI patients on-demand. 4. Gastrointestinal Specialists, PC of Troy, Mich., partnered with Oshi Health to offer its patients access to virtual care models. e partnership gives Gastrointestinal Specialists' current patients access to licensed advanced practice providers, registered dietitians, behavioral health specialists and care coordinators through Oshi's virtual GI center. 5. Fujifilm signed a partnership agreement with medical device company Karl Storz. e companies plan to jointly market Fujifilm's flexible gastrointestinal endoscopes along with Karl Storzs operating room integration solutions for ASCs and hospital GI suites. 6. ASC management services provider AmSurg partnered with Owings Mills, Md.-based LifeBridge Health and Pikesville, Md.-based Woodholme Group to open a gastroenterology outpatient surgery center in Westminster, Md. 7. Medtech company Insign Medical Technology and artificial intelligence company AAEON partnered to develop an AI-assisted endoscopy system. e new system, EndoDASS, integrates AAEON's BOXER-8641AI Fanless Embedded AI system and Insign's soware. 8. New York City-based New York Gastroenterology Associates collaborated with medical data platform Lynx.MD. NYGA will provide patient data to Lynx.MD to further GI research and development. 9. Gastroenterology supergroup United Digestive partnered with OMNY Health, a provider of healthcare data and insights. United Digestive will join over 5,000 GI providers serving more than 10 million patients within OMNY's research network. 10. McLaren Greater Lansing (Mich.), an affiliate of Grand Blanc, Mich.-based McLaren Health Care, partnered with Lansing-based Digestive Health Institute. Digestive Health Institute is backed by Pinnacle GI Partners, the largest practice of GI providers in the state. 11. Athens, Ga.-based oncology practice University Cancer & Blood Center and multidisciplinary practice University Health Alliance partnered to open a high-risk gastroenterology clinic. e facility will allow access for GI patients in Athens and Watkinsville, Ga. It will combine advanced technology with clinical expertise for the early detection of GI cancer. 12. Medtronic entered into a new partnership with specialty-focused EHR company ModMed to enhance documentation of its GI Genius polyp detection tool. 13. St. Petersburg-based Florida Digestive Health Specialists added ambulatory cloud EHR eClinicalWorks' AI tools and virtual scribe Sunoh.ai to assist with patient information charting and streamlined workflows. Implementing these AI tools will help the practice improve provider satisfaction, enhance efficiency and reduce costs. 14. Gastroenterology management organization GI Alliance partnered with three practices in Rhode Island, further expanding its presence in the Northeast. GI Alliance partnered with Providence-based University Gastroenterology, Providence-based Gastroenterology Associates and Cranston-based Gastrointestinal Medicine Associates. 15. West Long Branch, N.J.-based gastroenterology group Allied Digestive Health partnered with Provation, a soware company that focuses on clinical productivity and workflow automation. rough this agreement, ADH gained access to Provation's cloud-based procedure documentation and charting solutions. 16. Medical data intelligence platform Lynx.MD partnered with Allied Digestive Health, a leading GI practice with over 60 locations in New York and New Jersey. e collaboration expands Lynx.MD's GI data library, which sims to empower research and development in the medtech space. n Gastroenterologist dies at 82 By Francesca Mathewes I lwoong Chang, MD, a gastroenterologist of Schererville, Ind., died Dec. 15 at age 82, according to an obituary published by nwi.com Dec. 18. Dr. Chang earned his medical degree from Yonsei Medical School in Seoul, South Korea. From 1967 to 1970 he served in medical missions in rural parts of South Korea before being appointed a Lieutenant Naval Medical Officer. He served as the medical officer during the Vietnam War in 1969. He went on to complete a residency in internal medicine at Wayne State University Hospital in Detroit and a gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He became a U.S. citizen in 1976 and completed several teaching and lectureship roles at the University of Illinois and Indiana University Northwest in Gary. He served in leadership roles at Community Hospital in Munster, Ind., and St. Catherine's Hospital in East Chicago, Ind. He served in multiple medical societies in the region and practiced as a gastroenterologist in Northwest Indiana for 40 years. n