The budgetary impact of the cost of health care on the United States economy is far-reaching. An understanding of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act is essential to preparing…

US medicine is fragmented and economically unsustainable and has vast opportunities for quality improvement. A current solution is to create large accountable care organizations. Fragmentation should be reduced and clinical…

Historically, gastroenterologists entered into solo, small group, or academic practices. The current economic environment and looming regulatory mandates have led to gastroenterologists integrating into large, single-specialty groups to acquire costly…

The end of training marks the beginning of learning. Moving into practice is exciting, and there are good opportunities. Although there is still a great deal of uncertainty with the…

This is an age of disruptive innovation in health care in which the business model is changing. Fee-for-service, volume-based systems are being replaced by fixed-fee, value-based systems. One of the…

Gastroenterology (GI) is constantly changing in response to technological, demographic, economic, and political influences. Current health care reform efforts will accelerate this change. The increase in demand for GI services and…

The recent landmark health care reform legislation seeks to expand health insurance coverage, change incentives, and improve the quality and flow of information. This article reviews the elements of health…

Although some technical challenges in the development of dedicated devices need to be overcome, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS)-guided anastomosis is promising as a minimally invasive technique for pancreatobiliary diseases. Introduction Surgical…

The development of ultrasound contrast agents has allowed for the evaluation of vascularity in digestive organs by contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). Contrast-enhanced Doppler EUS and contrast-enhanced harmonic EUS (CH-EUS) have improved…