Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Advancing Independent GI Care with Dr. Sumana Moole

Transcript

Advancing Independent GI Care with Dr. Sumana Moole · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello. This is Francesca Matthews with the Becker's
• 0:03
  ASC review podcast.
• 0:04
  I'm thrilled to be joined today by doctor
• 0:06
  Sumana Mule, founding physician of Merus Gastroenterology
• 0:09
  and Gut Health. Doctor Mule, thank you so
• 0:11
  much for being here today.
• 0:13
  Absolutely. And thank you so much for having
• 0:15
  me.
• 0:16
  K. Great.
• 0:17
  To start us off, could you please just
• 0:19
  introduce yourself and tell us a little bit
• 0:21
  about your background?
• 0:22
  Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I'm a board certified gastroenterologist
• 0:25
  and the founder of Medus Gastroenterology and Gut
• 0:28
  Health based in Johns Creek, Georgia, which is
• 0:30
  just outside of Atlanta.
• 0:33
  My training journey started in the medical school
• 0:36
  in India, then I moved to Detroit, Michigan
• 0:39
  where I trained in internal medicine at Wayne
• 0:41
  State University.
• 0:42
  Later, I did a gastroenterology fellowship at Penn
• 0:45
  State, University. And following that, I had the
• 0:48
  privilege of practicing in a variety of environments.
• 0:52
  The first my first job was at a
• 0:53
  VA hospital,
• 0:55
  system in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
• 0:57
  Later on, I moved to a large multi
• 0:59
  specialty group of over a 100 physicians in
• 1:01
  Tampa, Florida,
• 1:03
  and later a single specialty,
• 1:05
  GI practice here in Georgia. So it kind
• 1:07
  of gave me a nice spectrum of different
• 1:10
  setups with GI. It's all gastroenterology, but the
• 1:13
  setup is very different.
• 1:15
  Gave me a firsthand experience on on how
• 1:17
  things run-in each of these
• 1:19
  areas.
• 1:20
  What I noticed
• 1:22
  through these experiences,
• 1:24
  was that while each system had its strengths,
• 1:27
  there was often very little flexibility or autonomy
• 1:29
  for physicians to truly practice medicine
• 1:32
  the way it's meant to be practiced.
• 1:35
  I like medicine to be thoughtful, collaborative,
• 1:38
  and without unnecessary barriers, and I couldn't find
• 1:40
  it in these,
• 1:42
  other systems.
• 1:44
  That was frustrating, and that frustration really pushed
• 1:46
  me to take a leap of faith and
• 1:48
  start my own independent,
• 1:49
  fully outpatient practice,
• 1:51
  here in Georgia.
• 1:53
  In in this location is frankly one of
• 1:55
  the most competitive GI markets in Metro Atlanta.
• 1:58
  It was risky, but it was it has
• 2:00
  been incredibly rewarding so far.
• 2:03
  So today,
• 2:04
  my independent practice, METAS Gastroenterology,
• 2:07
  has we built this fortunate to build a
• 2:09
  strong reputation just purely through
• 2:12
  authentic patient relationships
• 2:14
  and word-of-mouth.
• 2:16
  And more recently, we've been recognized and featured
• 2:18
  as the Santa top doctor. So we're really
• 2:21
  honored and,
• 2:22
  pleased
• 2:23
  as to how far we've come in the
• 2:25
  last four years since our practice has opened.
• 2:28
  But what's more satisfying is really having the
• 2:30
  freedom to, you know, care for patients in
• 2:33
  a way that feels personal,
• 2:35
  undrushed, and really deeply fulfilling.
• 2:38
  Absolutely. Yeah. That physician autonomy component, I find
• 2:41
  comes up a lot in the ASC space
• 2:43
  is one of the things that
• 2:44
  sort of draws people into
• 2:46
  the outpatient setting or just into independent practice
• 2:49
  overall, but especially
• 2:50
  related to ASCs. It seems like physician autonomy
• 2:53
  and ASCs are kind of intertwined at times.
• 2:57
  I'm wondering what are the top three trends
• 2:59
  that you're following in health care and ASCs
• 3:01
  today?
• 3:03
  Yeah. There is so much,
• 3:05
  going on in the in the trends in
• 3:07
  health care SCs, but the top three things
• 3:09
  I think I am excited about is,
• 3:12
  one is in in SCs, we are seeing
• 3:15
  a migration of more complex GI procedures into
• 3:18
  the outpatient setting
• 3:19
  and advances in technology, sedation safety, and post
• 3:23
  procedure monitoring.
• 3:24
  All of them that made it possible for
• 3:26
  what traditionally was done in hospital departments to
• 3:29
  come into the
• 3:30
  outpatient setting, and it's still safe and efficient
• 3:33
  as well. And payers are recognizing the value,
• 3:36
  and patients appreciate the convenience and comfort,
• 3:40
  which which is much easier to be done
• 3:41
  in ASCs rather than in a hospital setting.
• 3:45
  The second one that I'm seeing is a
• 3:47
  definite renewed interest in physician led ownership models.
• 3:51
  For years, at least the last decade, consolidation
• 3:54
  into private equity, hospital systems
• 3:57
  immediately like independence was impossible. And when I
• 4:00
  even when I started, it felt like I
• 4:02
  don't know where this is going, but I
• 4:04
  just got back from our annual ACG, the
• 4:07
  College of Gastroenterology
• 4:08
  Conference in Phoenix.
• 4:10
  And I saw more and more physicians, especially
• 4:12
  younger ones, who are looking for independent models
• 4:15
  that combine autonomy,
• 4:17
  with efficiency and support.
• 4:19
  And they like practices that integrate ASCs into
• 4:22
  the into their,
• 4:24
  model as well.
• 4:26
  So there I think in general, GI or
• 4:29
  more physicians are realizing that ownership is not
• 4:31
  just about equity, but it's also having a
• 4:33
  voice
• 4:34
  in how medicine is practiced,
• 4:37
  which is often lacking when you practice in
• 4:40
  larger health systems where there's not much autonomy
• 4:42
  and flexibility.
• 4:44
  And the third one that is really exciting
• 4:47
  and is still evolving quite a bit and
• 4:50
  rapidly is the integration of AI or digital
• 4:53
  tools and operational automation in ASCs.
• 4:56
  Things like AI enabled patient engagement,
• 4:59
  streamlined scheduling,
• 5:01
  real time analytics, they've all they're all helping
• 5:03
  small centers compete with the larger systems.
• 5:06
  It's, in and you think of them sometimes
• 5:09
  as are we gonna lose human touch, but
• 5:11
  it's really
• 5:12
  helping us scale empathy seamlessly and remove that
• 5:15
  friction between the patient and staff experience. So
• 5:18
  all of these are really I mean, it's
• 5:20
  an exciting time to be an independent GI
• 5:23
  physician and with all of these resources available.
• 5:27
  They're they make us health care more cost
• 5:29
  efficient,
• 5:30
  and they're leading innovation in quality and patient
• 5:33
  satisfaction
• 5:34
  as well. So so it's really exciting.
• 5:37
  Absolutely.
• 5:39
  Yeah, you you mentioned AI is something you're
• 5:42
  excited about.
• 5:43
  I'm wondering what else are you most excited
• 5:45
  about in this space right now or if,
• 5:47
  you know, if AI is the answer, kind
• 5:48
  of if you can expound on that a
• 5:50
  little bit. Within the AI, you mean? Well,
• 5:53
  just what in general are you excited about?
• 5:55
  Whether it's AI or whether it's something else?
• 5:58
  Yeah. I think, yeah, for the AC is
• 5:59
  really,
• 6:01
  the AI tools are making it more cost
• 6:03
  efficient and, making it seamless.
• 6:06
  Some of the hurdles we used to face
• 6:08
  with the revenue cycle management are decreasing with
• 6:11
  the AI tools and then the migration of
• 6:14
  addition of newer,
• 6:17
  service lines within the GIM gastroenterology.
• 6:19
  So such as
• 6:21
  adding new things such as my view, interest
• 6:24
  in placement. They're adding more revenue to the
• 6:27
  ASCs,
• 6:28
  as well as hemorrhoid,
• 6:30
  ablation. So adding new procedures
• 6:33
  that we traditionally haven't done before,
• 6:35
  is is also exciting. But within the AI
• 6:38
  world, there's there's just so much. I was
• 6:40
  just speaking to someone
• 6:41
  just as I was hopping on this call,
• 6:44
  a new company that's literally a year old
• 6:46
  who,
• 6:47
  enable
• 6:49
  medicines specialty medicines that we prescribe often run
• 6:51
  into prior authorization,
• 6:53
  peer to peer, all of which take is
• 6:55
  a burden on the staff and as as
• 6:58
  physicians do when we have to do that
• 6:59
  peer to peer. But this AI tool is
• 7:01
  doing this all seamlessly behind the scenes, almost
• 7:04
  80 to 90% approvals without pulling
• 7:08
  resources or time from the staff. So for
• 7:10
  every pain point, there seems to be a
• 7:13
  nice,
• 7:15
  model tech model that's coming up that's able
• 7:17
  to solve this. So,
• 7:19
  you know, it lets us practice medicine and
• 7:21
  not think about all these other,
• 7:23
  operational burdens.
• 7:26
  Mhmm.
• 7:27
  Yeah. Absolutely. And it's always great to hear
• 7:29
  you know, I think there's so much talk
• 7:31
  about AI, but it's great to hear observations
• 7:33
  about where it's, you know, really having an
• 7:35
  impact in physician practices.
• 7:38
  How are you thinking about growth over the
• 7:40
  next twelve months?
• 7:43
  Yeah. For us, we are an independent practice,
• 7:45
  and I, as I mentioned, I'd started about
• 7:48
  four years ago. So for now right now,
• 7:50
  we have a solid foundation. We've been recognized.
• 7:52
  We've had a good rapport with the patients.
• 7:54
  So for us, the next stage is really
• 7:57
  growing growth over,
• 7:59
  the next twelve months. We wanna expand our
• 8:01
  team, bring on another gastroenterologist.
• 8:03
  We actually just
• 8:05
  completed signing on onboarding a great physician for
• 8:08
  that.
• 8:09
  She who's gonna be starting next year. So
• 8:11
  increase this will help us increase our office
• 8:14
  and procedural
• 8:15
  capacity while we still remain aligned to our
• 8:17
  philosophy of patient first high touch care.
• 8:21
  We're also,
• 8:22
  focusing on operations again,
• 8:24
  bringing AI into the clinic side as well
• 8:26
  refining workflows.
• 8:28
  We are trying to adapt smart automation and
• 8:31
  optimizing staff engagement
• 8:33
  so that as we scale, we don't lose
• 8:35
  what makes us special.
• 8:37
  Right now, as an independent practice, it's a
• 8:38
  sense of connection and responsiveness for patients
• 8:42
  that they really appreciate. We wanna keep that
• 8:44
  going as we scale.
• 8:46
  So deepening that quality of every patient interaction
• 8:49
  and building a team culture that supports that
• 8:51
  is is truly exciting. So if we can
• 8:54
  maintain that alignment between clinical quality, patient experience,
• 8:58
  and physician satisfaction,
• 9:00
  I think that's the formula for sustainable success
• 9:03
  in this next, phase of outpatient GI care.
• 9:07
  Absolutely. That's something I hear from a lot
• 9:09
  of independent physicians, especially GIs, is when when
• 9:12
  I ask, you know, kind of what keeps
• 9:13
  you all going. It's that connection to community
• 9:16
  and that,
• 9:17
  yeah, like, that that real sense of, patient
• 9:19
  responsiveness as you said. Yeah.
• 9:22
  Is there anything else I haven't asked about
• 9:23
  that you think is important in this conversation?
• 9:27
  I think we hit on all the all
• 9:29
  the main points, but, really, I think what's
• 9:31
  most exciting is this revival or the renaissance
• 9:34
  of independent patient centered medicine for a while.
• 9:38
  Even few years ago, it felt like the
• 9:40
  only path was consultation. But now physicians are
• 9:43
  finding new creative ways to build sustainable independent
• 9:46
  models. So I'm really excited. I am really
• 9:48
  excited for all the physicians out there to
• 9:51
  build their own independent practices or join independent
• 9:54
  practices and make their voice heard. And that
• 9:56
  lets them practice the medicine the way they
• 9:59
  wanted to all along. So we're seeing practices
• 10:01
  in ASCs that reflect individual values and local
• 10:04
  community needs. So it's a win win, I
• 10:06
  think, for the patients, for the physicians,
• 10:09
  and reduce, you know, burnout when which happens
• 10:12
  when they practice in,
• 10:14
  stiff systems that that can't flex, that can't
• 10:17
  give them the autonomy they need. So,
• 10:20
  I think that's really key. This this next
• 10:23
  chapter in medicine is so energizing,
• 10:26
  and that's what is redefining,
• 10:29
  what quality means, not by adding layers, but
• 10:31
  by, you know, bringing it back to the
• 10:33
  basics, listening and partnering with the patient.
• 10:37
  Absolutely. I like to we can end it
• 10:39
  there. It's really,
• 10:41
  yeah. I think that resonates with so much
• 10:43
  of our audience.
• 10:44
  But, yeah, that's actually all I have for
• 10:46
  you today, doctor Mule.
• 10:47
  Thank you so much for joining us. Oh,
• 10:49
  thank you so much. It was a pleasure.
• 10:51
  Yeah. Yeah. It was a pleasure for me
• 10:53
  as well, and I look forward to connecting
• 10:54
  with you again in the future.
• 10:55
  Likewise.