As an early advocate of GIQuIC, AMSURG has anticipated the many benefits that better data about GI procedures and screening can bring to physicians, payors and patients. At a March GI Research Summit, leaders from AMSURG, Evolution Health and other industry-leading organizations collaborated on how best to study and leverage GIQuIC data in pursuit of the Healthcare Quadruple Aim.
Dr. Gerald Maccioli, chief quality officer of Envision Healthcare, said, "I believe we have a moral obligation to investigate our exceptional database and convert it to useful hypotheses and, ultimately, meaningful action." AMSURG's contributions to the GIQuIC database surpassed one million procedures earlier this year.
The group of industry leaders, which gathered at Envision Healthcare's Nashville headquarters on March 2, also included AMSURG President Phillip Clendenin, Evolution Health Chief Quality Officer Daniel Castillo, and Dr. Ashish Atreja, chief innovation and engagement officer at The Mount Sinai Hospital. A full day of collaboration yielded several hypotheses that could be pursued with AMSURG's current GIQuIC data and supplemental demographic information.
The three potential hypotheses focus on socioeconomic factors related to colon cancer screening rates and risk, social determinants that contribute to community screening rates and average screening ages, and the community cost impact of colon cancer screening.
"For physicians, this analysis would be difficult or impossible at the individual or group level, but at the AMSURG level we can provide real insight into what is happening and how to make improvements in colon cancer screenings," said Eric Thrailkill, chief information officer for AMSURG and Evolution Health.
"In response to some of the literature that has recently appeared on this topic, we kept coming back to the topic of age-appropriate screening recommendations," said Kathy Wilson, vice president of quality for AMSURG. "We believe this is a meaningful opportunity to support our physician partners and positively impact patients and communities."