Gastro Broadcast

Dr. Naresh Gunaratnam interviews Kim Beall, co-founder and managing director of Nutritional Therapy for IBD and Dr. Ashwin Ananthakrishnan, who is the Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Crohn's and Colitis Center about their work to advance evidence-based nutrition as part of IBD treatment plans.

When nutritional strategies are used in combination with medications, additional pathways are engaged to improve symptoms, quality of life and aid tissue healing.

When patients are able to access evidence-based nutritional therapy under the guidance of a healthcare providers it can them find foods to restore a healthy relationship with food and work their way back to a well-balanced diet of healthy, foods while at the same time feeling well again.

Join Dr. Gunaratnam, Ms. Beall and Dr. Ananthakrishnan as they explore how Nutritional Therapy for IBD works to inform, support, and empower patients and clinicians by providing education and essential tools and resources to utilize nutritional therapy alongside medication.

Dr. Lisa Mathew interviews Dr. Jeff Scott, a gastroenterologist and founder of Happy Colon Foods, a company that prepares meal kits that are compliant with the diet requirements before a colorectal screening.

Happy Colon Foods is designed to mimic a typical day, with three meals and snacks in between, including mac n' cheese and cookies. Because smaller doses of laxatives are spread throughout the day, many patients can work either part or most of their prep day.

A large, randomized trial published in 2013 compared the results of clear-liquid only and low-residue diets, and found that a low-residue diet, is just as effective than a diet restricted to clear liquids.

Join Dr. Mathew and Dr. Scott as they explore how this type of colonoscopy prep can remove some of the difficulty of preparing for a colonoscopy and encourage people to get screened.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 66

Dr. Lisa Mathew interviews Dr. Raman Muthusamy, professor of clinical medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and medical director of endoscopy for UCLA Health, about a new clinical guideline for endoscopic eradication therapy to prevent the progression of Barrett’s esophagus to esophageal cancer.

Esophageal cancer is preventable if high-risk patients, such as those with Barrett’s Esophagus, are treated with endoscopic eradication therapy to eliminate the Barrett’s tissue.

Endoscopic eradication therapy is highly effective, but the challenge is identifying the high-risk patients to treat and the low-risk patients for whom long-interval surveillance may be appropriate.

Join Dr. Mathew and Dr. Muthusamy as they explore new technologies for identifying patients who are most at risk and the potential innovations that could stop a majority of Barrett's Esophagus patients from progressing to esophageal cancer.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 65

Dr. Fred Rosenberg interviews Dr. Lauren Bleich of Gastro Health, who serves as president of the Massachusetts Gastroenterology Association about a new blood-based screening test for colorectal cancer from Guardant Health.

In May, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel voted that the Shield test was safe and effective, after reviewing evidence from a study which showed that the test correctly detected colorectal cancer in 83% of people confirmed to have it.

The study also showed that while the test is effective in finding later-stage cancers, it only detected 13% of earlier-stage polyps. The FDA advisory panel cautioned that the test is seriously limited because of its inability to prevent cancer. The endorsement of the test was based its potential to screen people who would otherwise avoid colorectal cancer screening.

Join Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Bleich as they discuss the opportunities and limitations of this new test in detecting polyps, and why colonoscopy remains the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening, as the only test that prevents colon cancer by removing polyps before they can turn into cancer.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 64

Dr. Michael Weinstein interviews Dr. Eric Shah, director of the Michigan Medicine GI Physiology Laboratories about a study showing that despite a federal law that says bowel preparations needed for colonoscopy should be covered by insurance, many patients are still paying out of pocket.

The study, from the University of Michigan Health, analyzed nearly 2.6 million insurance claims from both commercial insurance plans and Medicare Part D, and looked at how many patients paid for bowel prep medications needed for colonoscopy.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that certain preventative services, including colorectal cancer screening, must be covered by insurance plans without cost-sharing for patients. Unfortunately, prescription bowel prep for screening colonoscopy is still subject to cost sharing for most patients, running contrary to the ACA's mandate.

When considering that nearly half of patients are cost-shifted toward the use of non-FDA approved over-the-counter regimens, the data suggest that only 17 percent of patients pay zero for their bowel preparation for screening colonoscopy. Of the prescription claims analyzed, only 36 percent had no out-of-pocket costs.

Additionally, high-volume preps were more likely to be free compared to new, low-volume or tablet preparations. However, when patients did pay, high-volume preps cost a median of $10, while low-volume preps cost $60. For Medicare Part D, only 25 percent of high-volume preps were free, compared to 10 percent for low-volume preps.

Join Dr. Weinstein and Dr. Shah as they discuss how these co-pays for bowel prep can impact patients and what private practice gastroenterologists can do to educate their communities and to engage in advocacy so that co-pays do not present a barrier to colorectal cancer screening.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 63

Dr. Lisa Mathew interviews Dr. Mitesh Rao, chief executive officer of OMNY Health, about the organization's work to connect the healthcare ecosystem through data and insights to transform healthcare delivery, improve clinical outcomes, and address patients’ unmet needs. 

OMNY Health recently announced a partnership with several of the nation's leading GI practices to enable insights on patient population characteristics, care delivery patterns, and treatment outcomes based on data extracted from de-identified electronic health records (EHRs).

The partnership will provide valuable information on disease severity, rationale behind treatment decisions, treatment efficacy, and impact of social determinants on treatment selection and disease progression.

Listen to Dr. Mathew and Dr. Rao as they explore how independent GI practices can be connected with research and development efforts underway in gastroenterology, including Crohn's & Colitis, celiac disease, short bowel syndrome, and many others.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 62

Kevin Harlen interviews Dr. Larry Kosinski, chief medical officer for SonarMD, a remote monitoring and care coordination program for chronic conditions.

SonarMD recently announce positive results from two large, longitudinal studies evaluating several major drivers of medical costs in people living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and enrolled in the company’s end-to-end, digital care coordination program.

In both studies, SonarMD participants experienced a statistically significant and substantial decline in Emergency Department visits and In-patient Admissions compared to risk-matched control groups.

Join Kevin and Dr. Kosiniski as they discuss the future of GI and new innovations that can help practices implement value-based care programs for their patients.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 61

Dr. Fred Rosenberg interviews Dr. Jason Sugar from Washington Gastroenterology, who also serves as the gastroenterology team lead at Modernizing Medicine (ModMed).

ModMed recently announced a collaboration with Medtronic to enhance the documentation of polyp detection by utilizing the AI capabilities of the GI Genius system. The GI Genius system enables AI-assisted colonoscopies, which have been shown to achieve a 50% reduction in missed colorectal polyps over a standard colonoscopy.

The companies intend to interface data from GI Genius into ModMed’s gGastro platform with the expectation of reducing manual effort in documenting procedural metrics captured during the colonoscopy process.

Join Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Sugar to hear about this collaboration and how ModMed is helping GI practices grow and scale by delivering better patient experiences with intelligent software solutions.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 60

Dr. Lisa Mathew interviews Dr. Aja McCutchen of Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates and United Digestive, who recently co-founded OLVI Health, a platform committed to enhancing women's well-being through personalized digestive health insights.

OLVI Health works to empower women with knowledge and the tools to managing their digestive health, including helping consumers navigate the misinformation on social media and understand how to approach products that claim to be beneficial to gut health.

Join Dr. Mathew and Dr. McCutchen as they explore how technology can help to address the lack of tools for women to manage their digestive health, and the role it can play in promoting equity in healthcare access and outcomes.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 59

Dr. Michael Weinstein interviews Dr. Don Lazas, co-founder and chief medical officer of ObjectiveHealth about partnering with physicians to provide the tools needed to integrate clinical trials into their practice.

ObjectiveHealth’s digital health technology can help identity patients who are at risk of developing Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH).

Join Dr. Weinstein and Dr. Lazas as they explore new innovations in detecting and treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and NASH, and how clinical research could benefit a GI practice and its patients.

Produced by Andrew Sousa and Hayden Margolis for Steadfast Collaborative, LLC

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 58