Gastroenterology and Endoscopy News

Klaus Mergener, MD, PhD, MBA, reviews factors that can create marked differences in colonoscopy costs for patients, including tools and techniques used by clinicians and the geographic location of practices and hospitals. Also, we review programs that some clinicians are using to improve price transparency for this common procedure. Dr. Mergener is partner at Digestive Health Specialists in Tacoma, Washington, and affiliate professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News editor Adam Marcus talks with Klaus Mergener, MD, PhD, MBA, and Thomas Deas, Jr., MD, about issues affecting the practice of gastroenterology and the upcoming GI Roundtable Meeting in Fort Worth, Texas.

Kathleen Mueller, RN, CPC, CCS-P, CMSCS, PCS, CCC, reviews a selection of the overall changes gastroenterology and endoscopy practices will face when they transition from the 9th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) to the 10th revision (ICD-10) as well as strategies to provide effective practice management during the change. Kathleen Mueller is president and a coding consultant at AskMueller Consulting, LLC, in Lenzburg, Illinois. Click here to read the full text of this podcast. This podcast is intended for US health care professionals only and is funded by Braintree Laboratories.

Brooks D. Cash, MD, AGAF, FACG, FASGE, discusses the most prevalent causes and effects of incomplete or failed colonoscopy for gastroenterologists and endoscopists as well as patients. Factors related to failed colonoscopy, such as bowel preparation quality, and potential after effects including increased costs also are addressed. Dr. Cash is professor of medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. Click here to read the full text of this podcast. This podcast is intended for US health care professionals only and is funded by Braintree Laboratories.

Lawrence B. Cohen, MD, FACG, FASGE, AGAF, discusses some of the many factors related to bowel preparation quality including the type of preparation used and patient risk factors associated with poor preparation. He also describes techniques that clinicians can implement to ensure patients are adequately prepared for the colonoscopy procedure. Dr. Cohen is clinical professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Click here to read the full text of this podcast. This podcast is intended for US health care professionals only and is funded by Braintree Laboratories.

Jack A. Di Palma, MD, FACG, discusses how the clinician–patient relationship may effect preparation for colonoscopy, describes techniques for improving patient preparation, and evaluates the efficacy of colonoscopy dosing strategies. Dr. Di Palma is professor and director of the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile, Alabama.   Click here to read the full text of this podcast.   This podcast is intended for US health care professionals and funded by Braintree Laboratories.  

David A. Johnson, MD, discusses defining a successful colonoscopy, standard-of-care guidelines, and how quality regulation may improve adenoma detection rate and cancer detection. Dr. Johnson is professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia.   Click here to read the full text of this podcast.   This podcast is intended for US health care professionals and funded by Braintree Laboratories. 

Douglas K. Rex, MD, FACP, FACG, discusses how oversight of colonoscopy quality may affect endoscopists in the future as well as the effective assessment of the utility of colonoscopy as a cancer-screening tool.   Click here to read the full text of this podcast.   This podcast is intended for US health care professionals and funded by Braintree Laboratories.