Message From the President

Meeting the Need

GI centers and ASCs are well-positioned to help coming out of the COVID-19 crisis

When looking at the effects of COVID-19 on GI practices and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), we can break our assessment down into three phases. Phase one was the initial responses to the presence and spread of the novel coronavirus. Organizations were forced to take drastic and often difficult actions, such as closing or dramatically reducing operations, furloughing staff, adjusting contracts, and seeking other ways to diminish the financial impact of shutting down.

We are experiencing phase two now. This concerns gradually reopening and operating in an environment where the threat remains at levels that vary by zip code. For GI practices, this initially means leveraging telehealth to maintain patient relationships while delivering in-person care to those with the most intense needs. For ASCs, it means prioritizing essential surgeries and treatment for those patients needing long-term care management. In both settings, safety remains the highest priority.

Phase three comes next. While the GI industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, there is a very bright light at the end of this dark tunnel. The role of GI doctors, practices, and ASCs in delivering patient care in nonhospital settings will become even more critical in a post-COVID environment.

As regulations continue to ease, patient volume will steadily increase. We have an opportunity—and responsibility—to ensure our facilities are sources of the safest and highest quality care. This will allow hospitals to remain focused on treating COVID-19 patients and others requiring emergency services. GI practices and ASCs are well positioned to meet the needs of greater numbers of patients going forward.

To achieve such success and build patient confidence with and through our great patient care model, ensure you understand your business model and community’s specific situation as you work to reopen. Closely monitor your clinical, financial and operational data. Make educated decisions that allow you to safely build up services (and community confidence in those services), fund them appropriately, and return to the same strong level of operations as before this health crisis.

The good news is that we are on this path. Proper management and coordination among the entire GI industry will get us to the finish line. This is what we are focusing on at Physicians Endoscopy (PE). As you may have noticed over the past year, PE has been repositioning itself. While we remain fully committed to supporting gastroenterologists in ASCs, we are looking beyond endoscopy to meet the broader needs of GI specialists and their healthcare partners to help practices, ASCs, and ancillary services coordinate, grow, and thrive. Part of this effort includes rebranding EndoEconomics We have an and changing its name to the PE GI Journal. From the time we launched our opportunity—and responsibility—to first publication in 2006, we shared GI trends solely focused on the economic ensure our facilities are sources of the state of endoscopy centers. And, through the years, our content has expanded to share safest and highest quality care. not only financial insights but now provide business and operational strategies, trends, and solutions for the GI community. Our goal continues to focus on sharing ways to improve financial and clinical outcomes as well as supporting both positive physician and patient experiences. Stay tuned to learn more about our PE GI Journal and the additional digital content we will be sharing to support your efforts in delivering quality David Young, President & CEO, patient care. Physicians Endoscopy

Strategic planning is at the forefront for many hospitals with an emphasis on improving quality and lowering costs. The movement of hospitals toward licensed ambulatory surgery centers has accelerated based on a shift to value-based care, population health, and transparency.

Combining Physician Endoscopy’s expertise with a progressive hospital will ensure the most successful joint venture. PE has years of experience building successful three-way joint ventures and long-term relationships between hospitals and physicians.

LET’S WORK TOGETHER TO DEVELOP WORLD-CLASS: PATIENT CARE • PHYSICIAN ENGAGEMENT • MARKET POSITION

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