Benjamin Levy III, MD, a gastroenterologist at University of Chicago Medicine, joined Becker’s to discuss strategies to keep patient care high-quality and local while GI consolidation picks up.
Editor’s note: This interview was edited lightly for clarity and length.
Question: From your perspective, how can GI groups maintain patient-focused, high-quality care while adapting to new ownership or management structures?
Dr. Benjamin Levy: It’s critical for vertically integrated payer-provider organizations and private equity owned groups to establish physician-led committees to advise the business leaders on important decisions, ensuring that the highest quality endoscopy equipment is purchased. Physician led committees should help guarantee that the organization is following GI society published guidelines and providing patient-centered care. It’s important for Gastroenterologists to have Medical Director roles to ensure representation and to advocate for the other GI doctors in the group.
Furthermore, it’s important for organizations to tie incentives to quality-based metrics (such as adenoma detection rates), and not solely focus on productivity/revenue.
Q: How can consolidation efforts balance operational efficiencies with making sure patients still receive care that feels local, personal and easy to access?
BL: Organizations should provide Gastroenterologists with protected administrative time to review labs/pathology and call patients. Consolidated groups should invest in Nursing Navigators to help educate patients prior to colonoscopies, answer patient questions over the phone, check on patients after endoscopy, navigate patient flow within ASCs, and help schedule clinic appointments when findings are made during endoscopy procedures. Patients love when they receive phone calls from medical staff and individualized attention.
Try to make endoscopy scheduling simple by sharing the official scheduling phone number in clinic and in after-visit summaries. When possible, use an EMR with an excellent patient portal so that patients can ask medical questions. After procedures, provide the Gastroenterology on-call pager number in case patients have any questions about bleeding or abdominal pain following a procedure. Post-procedural care should be emphasized within consolidated organizations so that patients feel heard.
It may be helpful to maintain previous branding and names of practices so that there is a happy familiarity for patients. I would encourage these consolidated groups to maintain an awesome presence in their local community by sponsoring screening campaigns.These consolidated groups should help with Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March. Whenever possible, physicians should become active members in their local community by serving on volunteer boards.
