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We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Key takeaways: Workforce and policy pressures, as well as emerging AI technologies, are reshaping gastroenterology practice. ACG is tackling these issues with advocacy, support for biomedical innovation and by rethinking CME. NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2014 ACG is addressing AI- and workforce-driven shifts in gastroenterology with investment in biomedical innovation and modernized education initiatives, the outgoing president said at ACG Annual Scientific Meeting. \u201cWhile we have all these challenges that we\u2019re facing, I would argue that there\u2019s never been a more exciting time to be a gastroenterologist than now,\u201d William D. Chey, MD, AGAF, FACG, told Healio, reflecting on his address to attendees.
Chey, who also is H. Marvin Pollard Professor of Gastroenterology and chief of the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at Michigan Medicine, detailed achievements within the college in 2026 and initiatives that will be continued by his successor, President-elect Costas H. Kefalas, MD, MMM, MS-PopH, FACG. A shifting landscape Chey enumerated the changes ACG and its members will be grappling with in 2027. \u201cWe\u2019re facing all these challenges: increasing clinical demands with diminishing reimbursement models, problems with loss of autonomy and general change in the whole care model,\u201d he said. Patterns within the workforce reflect significant shifts in employment in the field. \u201cWe\u2019re [moving] from a phase where the majority of gastroenterologists were their own bosses in private practice to an employment model,\u201d Chey said. He also highlighted the challenges presented by physician shortages and healthcare deserts. \u201cWe not only have too few gastroenterologists, but there\u2019s also this tremendous maldistribution of gastroenterologists in rural vs. urban areas.\u201d Changes to gastroenterology care models also stem from AI, which Chey called a \u201cdouble-edged sword,\u201d acknowledging that AI presents risks for the field, but brings opportunity as well. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible to think about how [AI] is going to fuel biomedical innovation in drugs, devices, home health monitoring and imaging,\u201d Chey said. In particular, he emphasized the potential AI holds to advance precision medicine, which he dubbed the \u201choly grail\u201d of medical practice, within the next decade. \u201cOne of the areas that I really focus in is IBS, and we choose therapy based on the patient\u2019s predominant symptoms,\u201d Chey said. \u201cThat\u2019s a pretty blunt instrument and \u2014 surprise, surprise \u2014 some of the therapies we use make a whole lot less than half the patients better, and that\u2019s because of the imprecision by which we choose treatments for individual patients.\u201d Chey said he is \u201cvery optimistic\u201d about how AI may advance a precision-based, rather than an empiric, model of medicine. Amidst these changes, Chey said ACG remains focused on helping gastroenterologists and other healthcare professionals take care of patients with digestive disorders, and plans to address the challenges of the day with advocacy and task forces dedicated to timely topics. Advocacy and innovation According to Chey, \u201cthe crown jewel\u201d of ACG\u2019s policy-related efforts this year was its Advocacy Day on April 16. \u201cMore than 100 people \u2014 100 ACG members from all over the U.S. \u2014 descended on Washington and conducted over 200 meetings with congresspersons and senators, addressing clinically important topics like step therapy, prior authorization and Medicare reimbursement,\u201d he said. \u201cWe also talked about the important topic of NIH funding.\u201d At the event, ACG members encouraged legislators to cosponsor the bipartisan Safe Step Act, which would provide exemptions for step therapy requirements where delay could cause harm, as well as the Specialty Physicians Advancing Rural Care Act, which would aid student loan repayment for physicians practicing in rural areas, among other initiatives. Chey highlighted another key target for ACG: ongoing challenges that clinician scientists face as they seek NIH funding. \u201cThere are a lot of things happening right now that those of us in academic medicine who conduct NIH-funded research know, but that clinical gastroenterologists that may not be as tuned in to,\u201d he said. Under the current administration, political appointees review research awards. If they determine research is not aligned with administrative policies and priorities, these appointees can override decisions made by peer review, Chey said. ACG\u2019s answer to another key issue facing gastroenterologists \u2014 the advancement of AI technologies \u2014 is the ACG Biomedical Innovation Task Force. \u201cBiomedical innovation is only going to grow in importance in the age of AI and machine learning,\u201d Chey said. The task force, commissioned by Chey, includes physician entrepreneurs and innovators, industry leaders, and individuals from the finance and venture capital world. \u201cThis task force was [created] to better understand the landscape for innovation in GI and hepatology and where ACG might create assets that can help innovators who are trying to prototype an idea and bring it to market,\u201d Chey said. He anticipates the task force will begin issuing hardware and software grants in 2028 to develop and validate emerging medical tools. The task force also will work on developing a \u201csandbox network, which will be community ASC and academic-affiliated sites where these innovations and technologies can be tested in real-world clinical settings.\u201d Educational initiatives During his tenure, Chey also commissioned an Education Innovation Task Force designed to tailor ACG\u2019s training initiatives to the needs of its membership. \u201cACG is widely recognized as one of the preeminent organizations in providing clinically focused education for gastroenterologists and other providers that care for patients with digestive disorders,\u201d Chey said. \u201cI wanted this task force to think about how we\u2019re delivering that education.\u201d The task force surveyed ACG members about their educational preferences and developed three key recommendations that evolved into ongoing projects. These include a bite-sized video learning series focused on high-yield lectures and high-impact journals, rather<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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