Episodes

Dr. Lisa Mathews interviews Dr. Min Dong and Dr. Meenakshi Rao of the Boston Children’s Hospital regarding new research published in Nature that shows two FDA-approved drugs can alter our body’s own immune response to treat Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) more effectively. C. diff is the leading cause of gastrointestinal infections in the United States, and existing medications don’t always work because of antibiotic resistance, the presence of more lethal strains, and a drugs’ potential to h...

This summer, four new biosimilar drugs became available to U.S. patients and several more are expected to hit the market soon. Dr. Michael Weinstein interviews Laura D. Wingate, executive vice president, education, support, & advocacy for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation about the positive and negative implications of this development for patients. While increased competition in the market is likely to expand the range of options available, potentially leading to reduced costs for medications, a...

Dr. Lisa Mathew interviews Dr. Veena Shankaran, co-director of Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research, about a new study that found most patients with metastatic colorectal cancer face financial hardship after diagnosis. While has been a lot of research on the economic burden of cancer treatment, this is the first study that looks at newly diagnosed patients. The study found that more than 70 percent of patients with metastic colorectal cancer faced financial hardship within a year of...

Dr. Fred Rosenberg interviews Harold Miller, president and CEO of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, national policy center that works to improve healthcare payment and delivery systems. Mr. Miller discusses how our current health care model encourages consolidation and the challenges this creates for private practice physicians. Join Dr. Rosenberg and Mr. Miller as they explore different types of healthcare payment models, including a Patient-Centered Payment System, which wo...

Dr. Lisa Mathew interviews Giselle Carlotta-McDonald, who is the executive director of Project Access-New Haven, which employs community health workers to address colorectal cancer (CRC) screening disparities among Connecticut residents, particularly in African American and Latino communities. Project Access has been successful at reducing the CRC screening no-show rate through community health workers, who have trusted relationships and connections, understand the barriers and know how to navig...

For Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Fred Rosenberg interviews Dr. Abdul Saied Calvino, a surgical oncologist at Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, Rhode Island and assistant professor of surgical oncology at the Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. Calvino helped develop a program to increase colorectal cancer (CRC) screening and care tailored specifically to the Latino community in an effort to increase education and access to CRC screening. Spanish...

Many independent GI practices are familiar with the effects of physician burnout, which has become an epidemic in the U.S. health care system. Almost two-thirds of physicians have reported signs of burnout such as emotional exhaustion and a decrease in satisfaction with work-life integration at least once per week. Dr. Fred Rosenberg interviews Rachel Kanarowski, founder of Year of Living Better, an organization that uses evidence-based well-being solutions to transform workplaces from systems t...

Dr. Lisa Mathew interviews Dr. Vasu Appaleneni, who is a practicing gastroenterologist at Dayton Gastroenterology, and executive vice president of clinical innovation at One GI, a physician-led managed services organization. Dr. Appaleneni knew she would become a physician from an early age, and her entrenpreneurial led her to private practice gastroenterology, where she is able to care for patients, be a business owner, and provide employment opportunities in her community. Her interest in the ...

Dr. Rosenberg interviews Jenny Harrison, who is the director of communications of Girls with Guts, a non-profit organization that supports and empowers women with inflammatory bowel disease and/or ostomies. Ms. Harrison provides her inspiring story of living with IBD as a teenager, and why she joined Girls with Guts on its mission to give all women with IBD the strength to find their confidence, and keep it, despite having IBD or an ostomy. Join Dr. Rosenberg and Ms. Harrison as they talk about ...

Dr. Michael Weinstein interviews Dr. Prasad Iyer about new approaches to screening patients and detecting earlier stages of Barrett’s esophagus and associated dysplasia that can prevent esophageal cancer. Dr. Iyer is director of the esophageal interest group in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where he is active in research and education and providing mentorship to residents and subspecialty fellows. Join Dr. Weinstein and Dr. Iyer as they explore ...

Dr. Naresh Gunaratnam interviews Dr. Justin Forde about what GI fellows are focused on and thinking about as they begin their careers and what innovations they may bring into the organizations they join. Dr. Forde is Chief Gastroenterology Fellow at the University of Miami/Jackson Health System and an advanced endoscopy fellow at the University of Florida. Join Dr. Gunaratnam and Dr. Forde for an informative look into how the GI leaders of tomorrow are navigating their career choices and their m...

Dr. Michael Weinstein interviews Dr. Lindee Goh, who leads the healthcare practice with Tapestry Networks, an organization that brings together health care industry leaders to learn from one another, explore new ideas, and collaborate to solve problems working across the public and private sectors. Dr. Goh co-directs the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Shared Value Initiative, a collaboration with providers, payers, industry leaders, patient advocacy organizations, and others to explore how consensus...

Two out of five GI fellows are women but account for less 18 percent of practicing gastroenterologists and the number of women in leadership positions is even lower. Dr. Anita Afzali and Dr. Aline Charabaty share their experience in gastroenterology with host Lisa Mathew and discuss their plans to address some of the challenges women face in medicine . Dr. Charabaty is the assistant clinical director of the GI Division at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and clinical director of the Inflammatory...

While at Digestive Disease Week last month, Dr. Michael Weinstein sat down to record a live interview with Dr. Nadeem Baig, vice president and chief medical officer of Allied Digestive Health in New Jersey. Join Dr. Weinstein and Dr. Baig for a wide-ranging discussion of issues affecting independent GI, including the process for merging smaller local groups into one larger practice, the importance of sustained policy advocacy, and what can be done to increase the amount of GI fellows going into ...

Dr. Michael Weinstein talks with Ellen Brooks of the Men’s Health Inequities (MHI) Research Lab at the University of Utah School of Medicine, who is a co-author of a new study on the prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC) among long-haul truck drivers . Among a sample of more than 47,000 long-haul truck drivers between the ages of 21 and 85, obesity, increasing age, and other medical conditions were associated with increased CRC prevalence. For example, the study results suggest that compared wit...

Kevin Harlen interviews fellow Tar Heel Dr. Spencer Dorn about innovation in health care and several start up companies that are changing the way GI physicians treat and monitor patients. Dr. Dorn is a gastroenterologist, professor, and vice chair of medicine for care innovation at the UNC School of Medicine, where he focuses on how to bring people together to provide better and more efficient care and utilize resources to improve lives. Hear Kevin and Dr. Dorn explore how the COVID-19 pandemic ...

This week, Dr. Fred Rosenberg catches up with Dr. Mike Dragutsky, who is a practicing gastroenterologist at Gastro One, and chairman of One GI, a managed services organization with practices in five states that was envisioned, created and is guided by physicians. Dr. Dragutsky discusses his path in GI and why it's important for GI groups to develop a plan for sustainability and growth in the face of healthcare consolidation and rising costs. Dr. Rosenberg finds out how a chance encounter with fi...

Dr. Michael Weinstein of Capital Digestive Care talks to Erin Peterson of the Colon Cancer Coalition and Dr. Milena Gould Suarez of Baylor College of Medicine about the Faces of Blue campaign and the patients, physicians, and family members who share their experiences with colorectal cancer. By highlighting the personal stories of patients and survivors, the campaign seeks to encourage preventive colorectal cancer screening. Dr. Milena Gould Suarez shares about losing her grandmother to colon ca...

Dr. Michael Weinstein of Capital Digestive Care talks to Dr. Costas Kefalas from Akron Digestive Disease Consultants about his work as the president of the GI Quality Improvement Consortium (GIQuIc), a benchmarking registry that tracks quality measures such as cecal intubation rates, withdrawal times and adenoma detection rates. Hear about the path Dr. Kefalas took to independent GI, his role in co-founding the Ohio Gastroenterology Society, and how drumming in an acoustic Greek band called Aege...

Dr. Lisa Mathew is joined by Dr. Michael Kreines of Gastro Health Ohio, who helped develop a continuing medical education (CME) program that facilitates engagement with primary care physicians (PCPs) in the Cinncinnati metropolitan area. The program built by Gastro Health Ohio brings in experts on many issues facing PCPs and GI physicians in Ohio, while also bringing in non-GI guests on a broader range of compelling topics. Recent topics include crime scene investigation, sleep disorders and med...

Dr. Fred Rosenberg talks with Dr. Daus Mahnke of Gastroenterology of the Rockies about the environment for private practice in Colorado. Dr. Mahnke discusses his path to gastroenterology, how his practice responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the groups experience with adding the GI Genius artificial intelligence (AI) endoscopy module that helps GI physicians detect polyps during routine colonoscopy. Join Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Mahnke to learn how his group has grown organically over the years ...

Scott Becker is an expert in all things related to the business of gastroenterology. He is a sought-after healthcare attorney and a partner at McGuireWoods and publisher of Becker's Healthcare, a leading source of business information for hospital leaders and owners and operators of ambulatory surgery centers. Dr. Michael Weinstein talks with Scott about how he became interested in surgery centers and the business of healthcare and publishing. Join us for a discussion of what the future holds fo...

Dr. Lisa Mathew is joined by Dr. Nundhini Thukkani of Kaiser Permanente in Portland Oregon to discuss how (and why) Dr. Thukkani founded the wildly popular Ladies of the Gut group on Facebook that provides a forum for #WomenInGI. Dr. Thukkani discusses how she began her career in an independent GI practice and found her way to Kaiser, where she values the opportunities for coordinated care that the health system provides to her patients. Join Dr. Mathew and Dr. Thukkani to learn how to join Ladi...

Dr. Naresh Gunaratnam talks with Dr. Chris Fourment, CEO of Clinical Research Strategy Group about independent GI practices can develop or improve clinical trials infrastructure, which increases their ability to participate in clinical trials and allows sustainability of research as a practice ancillary. Dr. Fourment says some practices face challenges in getting buy-in for research and referrals from all the group partners. Other groups are challenged by the path to growth of the research depar...