Gastro Broadcast

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

Dr. Fred Rosenberg interviews Anthony Borrelli, executive director of product & marketing for Fujifilm’s endoscopy division.

Fujifilm recently received 510K clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for CAD EYE, a novel artificial intelligence detection system for endoscopic imaging that enables real-time detection of polyps and adenomas during colonoscopy procedures.

The technology is designed to support detection of lesions that may be easiest to miss, such as flat lesions, those at the corner of the endoscopic view, and multiple lesions present in a single frame.

When a suspicious polyp is detected by CAD EYE, the physician is given both visual and auditory alerts that are overlaid on top of – but do not interfere with – clinical images in the physician’s existing workflow.

Join Dr. Rosenberg and Anthony as they explore what the future holds for AI detection systems and other innovations in screening colonoscopy.

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

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 57

For Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Naresh Gunaratnam speaks with Dr. Srinadh Komanduri, associate chief of gastroenterology and hepatology and director of endoscopy at Northwestern Medicine, about efforts to educate the public about esophageal cancer and cutting-edge tools that are helping gastroenterologists determine which of their patients are at greatest risk of developing 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.

The Barrett's Esophagus surveillance program at Northwestern includes the TissueCypher test, which provides Dr. Komanduri and his colleagues with a personalized prediction of cancer progression risk based on molecular biomarkers that cannot be measured by traditional pathology.

Join Dr. Gunaratnam and Dr. Komanduri to hear how gastroenterologists and pathologists can better identify patients who are most at-risk and provide the appropriate care to help prevent them from developing esophageal cancer.

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

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 56

Kevin Harlen interviews Robert Raleigh, chief operating officer and general counsel for Sebela Pharmaceuticals, which has been innovating in the area of colonoscopy prep since the 1980’s.

Achieving adequate bowel preparation is challenging but critical to achieve a good-quality colonoscopy. But many studies have shown that a majority of patients have reported the preparation is the most difficult part of screening.

Join Kevin and Rob as they discuss how Sebela is working on improving access to low-volume preparations and advocating for policies to remove barriers to effective colorectal cancer screening.

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

Mixed and mastered by Hayden Margolis

Gastro Broadcast, Episode 55