News from the Literature | Practice | Research | Announcements | Education & Meetings | Journals & Publications
LEADING THE NEWS
Prepare Jan. 1 for New ASC Quality Reporting Program
CMS announced details of the new ambulatory surgery center (ASC) quality reporting program in the ASC prospective payment system 2012 final rule. Beginning Oct. 1, 2012, ASCs will be required to submit quality data on measures to avoid a 2 percent reduction in 2014 Medicare payments. Although the reporting period for the program will not begin until Oct. 1, 2012, two measures for the 2015 payment determination will be based on data captured in calendar year (CY) 2012.
In order to prepare for these reporting requirements, on Jan. 1, 2012, ASCs should begin using a safe surgery checklist and have a system in place to capture surgical volume data of GI procedures. An ASC will need to report their yes/no response regarding the ASC’s use of a safe surgery checklist during CY 2012 via a Web-based tool between July 1, 2013, and Aug. 15, 2013. Additionally, an ASC will need to report its CY 2012 all-patient volume data for GI codes during the same 45-day window.
One example of a checklist is the World Health Organization surgical safety checklist, which was adopted by the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists as an international standard of practice.
Read AGA’s in-depth summary on the 2012 ASC final rule.
NEWS FROM THE LITERATURE
IBD Is Associated with Poor Outcomes in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
Little is known about the exact etiology of primary sclerosing cholangitis, and epidemiologic data are scarce. Researchers from New Zealand performed a population-based epidemiologic study of primary sclerosing cholangitis in Canterbury, searching public and private adult and pediatric outpatient clinics, hospital discharge summaries, and radiology and pathology reports to identify all cases of primary sclerosing cholangitis in the region. The team observed large differences between primary sclerosing cholangitis patients with or without concurrent IBD, including age at diagnosis, development of cancer, mortality and requirement for liver transplantation. IBD therefore affects outcomes of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis, an important observation that requires further study.
Dietary Fiber and Whole Grains Reduce CRC Risk
According to study published in this week's issue of the British Medical Journal, a high intake of dietary fiber — in particular cereal fiber and whole grains — is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). Doctors from the U.K. performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies. The summary relative risk of developing CRC for 10g daily of total dietary fiber was 0.9, for fruit fiber it was 0.93, for vegetable fiber it was 0.98, for legume fiber it was 0.62 and for cereal fiber it was 0.90. The team found that the summary relative risk for an increment of three servings daily of whole grains was 0.83. Further studies should report more detailed results, including those for subtypes of fiber and be stratified by other risk factors to rule out residual confounding. Further assessment of the impact of measurement errors on the risk estimates is also warranted.
NSAIDs and Statins Have Chemopreventative Effects in Barrett's
Low-Dose Interleukin-2 Improves HCV-Induced Vasculitis
Patients with vasculitis induced by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) have reduced levels of regulatory T cells (Tregs), while resolution of HCV infection correlates with cure of vasculitis and the recovery of Treg levels. Doctors, reasoning that interleukin-2, a cytokine that promotes Treg survival and function, could be beneficial for patients with vasculitis that is resistant to HCV therapy, investigated the safety and immunologic effects of the administration of low-dose interleukin-2 in a prospective open-label, Phase 1-Phase 2a study. The team identified that transcriptome studies of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells revealed that interleukin-2 induced a global attenuation of the signatures for inflammation and oxidative stress mediators. The trial showed that low-dose interleukin-2 was not associated with adverse effects, and led to Treg recovery and concomitant clinical improvement in patients with HCV-induced vasculitis, an autoimmune condition.
PRACTICE
AGA Work Group Continues to Impact Payor Coverage
GastroSlides Featured Image
Topic: Autoimmune Liver Disease
These images focus on the causes, diagnosis and management of autoimmune injury to the liver and biliary tree.
Order these slides individually as you need them or purchase a one-year subscription and have access to the entire GastroSlides library of more than 4,000 images. Preview and order slides.
Patient Registries: A Solution for Payor Quality Reporting
Risk-bearing entities — government and private payors, self-funded employers, and accountable care organizations — are looking to control health-care costs, leaving gastroenterologists and other specialties under increasing pressure to demonstrate outcomes that meet performance thresholds. Administrative claims data and plan-specific proprietary "quality" metrics that may be economic- or eminence- rather than evidence-based put providers at risk of being assessed based on incomplete and imperfect information.
Quality improvement-focused patient registries, using measures developed by specialty societies and endorsed by national quality entities as supporting improvement in outcomes — not just process documentation — provide GIs with an avenue for such reporting and assessment, using detailed clinical data that are representative of the realities of GI practice.
The AGA Digestive Health Outcomes Registry® is a CMS-qualified registry for reporting on the hepatitis C measures group. Providers can still report for 2011 and potentially earn a 1 percent bonus, provided they act quickly and follow these three steps:
- Enroll in the AGA Registry by Jan. 13, 2012.
- Choose a Physician Quality Reporting System reporting method.
- Submit data by Jan. 31, 2012.
Learn more about earning a 2011 Medicare bonus using the AGA Registry and by viewing an on-demand webinar, Earning a 2011 Medicare Bonus: What You Need to Know.
RESEARCH
Your AGA Research Foundation Gifts Support …
… Birgit Ey, of the Hospital of Essen/University of Duisburg, who received a 2011 AGA-Horizon Pharma Student Abstract Prize.
"As a PhD student in the lab of Elke Cario, MD, at the University of Duisburg Essen, Germany, my research focuses on the study of innate immune responses in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases. Attending Digestive Disease Week® will greatly enhance my graduate training experience by providing a unique forum for presentation of my research to the scientific community and advancing my knowledge of the most current information and views in GI research. It will also give me the opportunity to network and develop contacts with other trainees and IBD researchers from the U.S. and other parts of the world. I am very grateful to the AGA for having granted me this award and for their generous support in my research and career endeavors."
To make a donation, visit www.gastro.org/contribute.
Nominations Open: Council Section Research Mentor Awards
The AGA Institute Council is currently accepting nominations for the DDW® 2012 Council Section Research Mentor Awards. The deadline to submit a nomination packet is Dec. 15. We encourage you to forward information about the award to individuals you think might be interested.
Awards will be presented at DDW 2012 for outstanding research mentors in the following areas:
- Clinical Practice.
- Hormones, Transmitters, Growth Factors and their Receptors.
- Imaging and Advanced Technology.
- Immunology, Microbiology and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.
- Liver and Biliary.
- Pancreatic Disorders.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Here's What You're Retweeting
Here is what our Twitter followers retweeted most often last week:
- Asymptomatic #celiac patients should still follow a gluten-free diet; page 11. GI & Hep News: ow.ly/7IKkt.
- Think you don’t need your appendix? Think again. Learn why in today’s post from The AGA Journals Blog. ow.ly/7J0B5.
- New Image of the Month showing colonic perforation during PEG tube insertion. FREE! ow.ly/7JUoR.
- News from the AGA pressroom: use of opioid pain killers for abdominal pain has more than doubled. ow.ly/7Mz4E.
- AGA and @ASGEendoscopy are investing in future of GI training. Conducted successful program @HowardUCollege of Medicine...
Have any news that you would like us to share with our AGA members? Please send them to communications@gastro.org or share them on our social media channels:
- Become an AGA fan on Facebook.
- Join our LinkedIn group.
- Follow us on Twitter @AmerGastroAssn.
- Check out our videos on YouTube.
EDUCATION & MEETINGS
Why the GTE® Is an Important Training Tool
The AGA Institute offers the Gastroenterology Training ExaminationSM (GTE®), a four-hour exam covering a wide array of GI and liver topics, to provide a valuable assessment tool for training programs and fellows to effectively gauge progress in training. The 2012 GTE will be administered during the testing window of March 1–15, and is open to all GI fellows, including fourth-year fellows.
Now in its eighth year, the 2012 GTE features enhanced score reports for training directors. Directors will now receive a copy of individual fellows’ score reports. They will also receive refined Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education core competency reports providing detailed scores for individual fellows and program performance by competency.
In 2011, a record 160 programs and 1,160 fellows participated in the exam. A number of program directors felt the exam was effective in helping them identify fellows who require additional education counseling, outline educational objectives and identify possible curricular adjustments.
The exam costs $250 per fellow. Registration remains open through Feb. 1.
View further details about exam administration and register your fellows online.
The AGA Institute funds the GTE to support the professional development of all gastroenterology fellows.
| Benefits of Registering for the GTE |
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The GTE helps training programs assess fellows’ knowledge in specific areas, measure performance against the national average and make appropriate adjustments to the curriculum or study plan. Learn more and register. |
Save the Date for the AGA Spring Postgraduate Course
The 2012 AGA Spring Postgraduate Course, Practical Solutions for Your Everyday Clinical Management Problems, will be held May 19 and 20 in conjunction with DDW® in San Diego, CA.
This one-and-a-half-day, multi-topic course covers a variety of different disease states while drawing on clinical examples. Sessions explore the latest therapies and diagnostic modalities used in the upper GI tract, pancreatobiliary and hepatic disorders, GI cancers, IBD/IBS, the midgut and more.
Participants will take home useful clinical information that they can immediately apply to practice, and will be able to claim up to 10.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
Registration opens Jan. 4 for AGA members (Jan. 11 for nonmembers). Plan to register early at www.ddw.org to take advantage of a $75 early bird discount. For complete course information, visit www.gilearn.org/pgcourse.
AGA Helps with ABIM Recertification
Earn up to 20 percent of the credits required by attending the AGA Maintenance of Certification (MOC) course. This half-day program assists you in completing the 2010 and 2011 American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) self-evaluation process modules for MOC in gastroenterology. This course will take place immediately following the AGA Clinical Congress on Sunday, Jan. 22 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, FL. As a participant, you will earn up to 20 out of the required 100 points of self evaluation toward MOC and up to 4.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
Expert clinician educators will present each module, identify the key points and summarize the relevant medical issues in an interactive group setting using audience response technology that will lead participants to the correct answers. After the course, you will be able to submit your answers to the module questions to the ABIM for MOC points.
The course also includes a special session, Pearls for Successful Completion of ABIM Maintenance of Certification, which offers valuable information about fulfilling MOC requirements and how to successfully pass the proctored MOC exam.
Course attendees will receive AGA guidebooks that include monographs linked to each of the questions in the corresponding ABIM modules. The 2010 guidebook can also be purchased through the AGA website.
Physicians: Register for the 2012 AGA Clinical Congress and receive a discount on this course.
Additional MOC resources:
Registration Now Open for AGA’s Technology Conference
Be at the forefront of innovation in digestive and metabolic disorders. Register today for the third annual Fostering Innovation and Technology in Digestive and Metabolic Diseases, which will be held March 23 and 24, 2012, at the Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley in East Palo Alto, CA.
The conference addresses essential knowledge required to develop and deliver new medical technologies in today’s GI market. Sessions explore the latest developments in reimbursement, the regulatory and legal environment, intellectual property, and more. Areas of opportunity are discussed, including: optical endomicroscopy, molecular diagnostics, GI motility, endoscopy and other areas of unmet need. The conference also addresses barriers and opportunities with accountable care organizations, and identifies how to build relationships with key stakeholders — physicians, specialty societies, industry, investors, payors, purchasers, regulatory agencies and policymakers. You will also learn about what AGA is doing to help create a more supportive environment for new technologies, like the AGA Technology Center and AGA initiatives that support innovation in digestive and metabolic diseases.
A new addition to the program includes a forum for companies with an innovative technology or FDA-regulated product looking for financing or licensing as well as distribution and/or partnership opportunities to make a presentation to industry experts, investors, clinicians and entrepreneurs. Companies will be able to receive valuable feedback that enables the development and implementation of strategies toward commercializing their technology.
This is a terrific opportunity to network with industry and regulatory experts, as well as investors, medical device companies, inventors, and opinion leaders. Lunch sessions and a two-hour reception on Friday evening are included free.
For the latest program information and to register online, visit www.gilearn.org/tech-conference.
The AGA Institute and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers gratefully acknowledge the following sponsors:
- BÂRRX® Medical (Platinum).
- Medtronic, Inc. (Platinum).
- SmartPill® Corporation (Platinum).
- Crospon (Silver).
- Mauna Kea Technologies (Bronze).
“The AGA tech conference remains a great opportunity to bring together a leadership group from multiple constituencies: investors, industry leaders, physicians and government officials all interested in driving innovation for patients with gastrointestinal diseases.” — Greg Barrett, president and CEO, BÂRRX Medical, Inc.
| AGA Center for GI Innovation and Technology |
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The center works with companies to foster the development and adoption of medical technologies, diagnostics and therapeutics that can improve patient care under the guidance of evidence-based standards. |
JOURNALS & PUBLICATIONS
Free E-Book: European Gastroenterology & Hepatology Review
Touch Briefings, the London-based health-care and life sciences publisher, publishes a diverse portfolio of fully referenced peer-reviewed journals across the clinical and pharmaceutical arenas. Through this portfolio of more than 50 print journals and websites, Touch Briefings aims to assist in the education of health-care and pharmaceutical professionals.
As part of AGA’s collaboration with Touch Briefings, AGA members receive free access to its publications, including the most recent edition of European Gastroenterology & Hepatology Review. In this issue, Professors Shomron Ben-Horin and Udayakumar Navaneethan contribute a paper entitled “Double Trouble: Clostridium difficile Infection in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease,” while Professor Gabrio Bassotti and colleagues provide a discussion of histo-pathological aspects of celiac disease.
More free articles and resources are available on Touch Briefing’s website, www.touchgastroenterology.com.
Call for Papers on Clinical Trials: Gastroenterology
Gastroenterology is committed to advancing clinical practice in the field of digestive disease. Recognizing that clinical trials generally have the greatest impact of all studies on clinical practice, Editor Anil K. Rustgi, MD, and his associate editors strongly encourage authors to submit their manuscripts on clinical trials (diagnostic validation, therapeutic efficacy) of drugs, biological materials and devices in digestive, liver and pancreatic diseases, including studies at Phases I, II and especially III, to Gastroenterology for consideration. The journal is also interested in publishing trials in endoscopic and imaging modalities.
There are several important reasons to submit clinical trial research for publication in Gastroenterology:
- With an impact factor of 12.9, Gastroenterology is the premier journal in the field.
- Gastroenterology is the journal that will directly reach the largest portion of physicians who care for and make treatment decisions for patients with GI or liver disease.
- Authors who submit their manuscripts to Gastroenterology typically will receive decisions within three weeks or fewer.
- Accepted manuscripts will be published online and indexed on PubMed within 10 days of acceptance.
To submit your manuscript to Gastroenterology, go to www.editorialmanager.com/gastro.
For important information on how to report clinical trials, go to www.gastrojournal.org/authorinfo. To review the current and past issues of the journal, go to www.gastrojournal.org.
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Place GI Position Listings and Activity Announcements
For as little as $82.50, you can place a classified ad of 100 words or less in AGA's weekly e-mail newsletter, AGA eDigest, or AGA's bi-monthly magazine, AGA Perspectives. If you place ads in both AGA Perspectives and AGA eDigest, you will receive a 10 percent discount. Advertising in either includes a free online classified listing. Learn more.
Global Probiotics Council — Young Investigator Grant for Probiotics Research
The Global Probiotics Council, a committee established in 2004 by DANONE and YAKULT HONSHA CO., LTD., has announced the fifth annual Young Investigator Grant for Probiotics Research. The purpose of the two annual grants of $50,000 each is to contribute to the advancement of probiotics and gastrointestinal microbiota research in the U.S., and to impact academic and career development of young investigators, attracting them into the field of probiotics and microbiota.
Deadline: Feb. 15, 2012.
The official announcement and description of this opportunity may be found at:
http://www.probioticsresearch.com/.
North Dakota
Regional Leaders in Gastroenterology
Immediate openings for BC/BE gastroenterologists interested in practicing in an organization experiencing dynamic growth and development. This procedure-oriented practice with Sanford Health Fargo offers you a great work-life balance with a call schedule of 1:8. Procedures performed include ERCP, EUS, SpyGlass® and capsule studies. Consults only in 583-bed level II trauma center with EMR and PACS. Opportunity to teach medical students and IM residents. Sanford Health Fargo consists of 585+ physicians located in Fargo and 34 regional primary care clinics.
Fargo, ND, with a metro population of 190,000, is a diverse, stimulating and family-oriented city with all the amenities that make for a satisfying and fulfilling life. We offer exceptional K-12 and higher education systems, world-class health care, affordable housing, low cost of living, and myriad cultural and entertainment opportunities.
Jean Keller, physician recruiter
Sanford Health Physician Placement
Phone: 701-280-4853
E-mail: Jean.Keller@sanfordhealth.org
J1 candidates accepted.
