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Future of Gastroenterology Practices: Key Trends to Watch

Do you know technology is bringing a groundbreaking shift in gastroenterology? Artificial intelligence is introducing the latest tools that have great potential to automate how healthcare providers diagnose, treat, and manage digestive problems. In the US, there are almost 60 to 70 million people who suffer from poor gut health. 


Therefore, Gastroenterologists treat and diagnose countless Americans’ digestive diseases on a daily basis. However, they fail to receive fair compensation for the services they are offering due to billing complications. And this billing process is becoming more complicated due to constant technological advancements.


So, let’s uncover some key trends in detail before discussing the challenges faced by professionals!

The Future of Gastroenterology

AI in Gastroenterology

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly increasing field. It has significantly impacted almost every field of life. There are major changes and automation in healthcare processes as well. 


Likewise, every other medical field, Gastroenterology, is also gaining benefits from AI over the last 20 years because it diagnoses and treats gastrointestinal disorders. Let's understand how AI actually works. There are two main components of AI: 

Machine learning (ML) 

and deep learning (DL). 


ML deals with mathematical algorithms for data analysis. This data is derived from algorithms that recognize trends, forecast results, and help with several medical diagnoses and treatments. On the other hand, deep learning (DL) is a branch of machine learning. DL deals with the visual data. It contributes to evaluating medical imaging. 


The two statistical and visual tools help gastroentologists in detecting cancer, investigating endoscopic lesions,  evaluating liver fibrosis, distinguishing between pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, determining patient prognoses, or forecasting how they may react to therapies.


Early Cancer Detection

Endoscopy is an important method for diagnosing gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. Since the emergence of artificial intelligence in endoscopy applications, it has shown higher accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in detecting and diagnosing GI diseases at all levels.


AI support shows promise in identifying precancerous lesions and early esophageal cancer and determining the extent of invasion of esophageal tumors. 


The primary risk factor for esophageal cancer, foci of neoplasia inside Barrett's esophagus, is missed by traditional endoscopic procedures, despite the development of endoscopic methods such as magnification endoscopy and narrow-band imaging. 


Doctors estimate the overall five-year survival rate for esophageal cancer is about 20%. However, this number usually ranges from 5% to 47%. Want to know how? When esophageal cancer is detected early, the five-year survival rate is higher. In contrast, when it is diagnosed later, this rate is lower.


AI can help healthcare providers in this regard! For example, an AI system can identify early Barrett's neoplasia lesions during real-time endoscopy with 90.1% accuracy, 91% sensitivity, and 89% specificity. 

Telehealth and Telemedicine

Telemedicine is increasingly transforming the delivery of remote gastroenterology care, offering patients convenient, cost-effective access to specialized care. This advancement has particularly benefited individuals in rural or underserved areas where access to gastroenterologists may be limited. 


Telemedicine has allowed many patients with chronic diseases to access remote care worldwide, proving to be the ideal solution to overcome restrictions and carry out non-urgent routine follow-ups on chronic patients.


Telehealth (often confused with telemedicine) encompasses a range of activities, including public health promotion, education, preventative services, and disease diagnosis and treatment. Since telehealth may make consultations, follow-ups, and prescription management easily accessible to patients, it has become a crucial component of gastroenterology billing. 


Challenges for Gastroenterology Practices

Although technological advancements help healthcare providers with accurate diagnoses and personalized treatments, they also contribute to making several things quite challenging. These challenges include:

Data Security

All these technological advancement lends a major hand in dealing with practice's operations, but it also puts them in the way of potential data security threats. This is the biggest challenge that the healthcare industry is currently facing. 2023 broke all the records of previous data breaches by exposing 168 million records to hackers. This threat usually jeopardizes the customer's trust and loyalty towards the healthcare practice.

Regulatory Changes

Policies and insurance laws in the healthcare industry are constantly being updated to handle data security and other dangers. These regular modifications protect customer loyalty and faith in the medical practice.


However, coping with these rapid changes to comply with laws and regulations can be challenging for healthcare practices.


Staff Training

With the constant regulatory updates, employees must be informed and trained for the latest developments. It will help them handle the billing issues that usually arise due to the ongoing changes in billing methods.


Furthermore, practices must invest in the training and development of the team to understand payer-specific guidelines and handle intricate coding and billing procedures to avoid unnecessary claim rejections.

Telemedicine Coding

Telemedicine lets gastroenterologists provide both online and on-site treatments to those living in rural areas. However, this has made it more difficult for them to utilize the appropriate CPT code in each scenario, particularly when we code for remote monitoring and virtual consultations. 

The Ultimate Solution

So, how can you cope with these challenges? By outsourcing gastroenterology billing services. Accurate claim submission is their priority. Collaborating with gastrointestinal medical billing specialists guarantees that you appropriately file each claim. 


Medical billing experts in gastroenterology are well-trained in the small details of insurance billing and reimbursement collection. They ensure your practice gets the most money by staying current with the recent payer rules and regulations. Their staff handles the complicated reimbursement process, guarantees a consistent income stream, and eliminates the uncertainty associated with reimbursement periods. 


Practices usually incur additional expenses for staff training and integrating the newest technology into their operations. However, outsourcing to third-party medical billing companies is a hassle-free and affordable solution for healthcare providers.


Conclusion

There is an increasing demand for gastroenterologists in the USA. According to the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), over 40% of Americans experience bothersome bowel symptoms that interfere with their daily routine.


Given the demand, the US has over 2,100 gastrointestinal medical practices. Most gastroenterological practices are usually smaller and typically consist of fewer than three doctors. This indicates that they lack the necessary skills to manage the day-to-day operations of healthcare practices.


By collaborating with a medical billing business to handle their operational activities, companies may greatly reduce the administrative load and concentrate on other crucial tasks, such as treating patients and focusing on the most recent diagnosis and treatment options. 

author

Chris Bates



STEWARTVILLE

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