Artificial intelligence is making waves throughout the healthcare industry, and the gastroenterology sector is no different.
Here are a few of the ways that the technology is moving GI forward in 2025, as reported by Becker’s.
Study findings and clinical guideline updates
- Studies presented at Digestive Disease Week included some focused on the quality and empathy of AI responses versus those from physicians related to patient questions about gastrointestinal cancers. In the studies, ChatGPT outperformed physicians in the quality and empathy of responses to questions asked by patients.
- The American Gastroenterological Association released new clinical guidelines on the use of AI in colonoscopies. While the organization did not explicitly recommend the use of AI, the AGA found that the technology can enhance the detection of colorectal polyps. At this point it is still not clear how effectively AI can prevent colorectal cancer.
How gastroenterologists have used AI thus far
- Up to this point, physicians have mostly been using AI in the workplace for administrative support and patient pre-screenings.
- “Artificial intelligence has become part of our practice. We’ve deployed an AI visual interface during colonoscopy which can help detect precancerous lesions. Coming soon, we’ll use AI dictation for clinic visits and hope to use AI to scour our incoming queue to flag ‘high-risk’ referrals to bring them to the top of the list for scheduling purposes,” Omar Khokhar, MD, gastroenterologist and partner at Illinois Gastro Health in Bloomington told Becker’s.
- “We are using AI for our direct access colonoscopy program. We have partnered with Insight Health to administer a health questionnaire and intake form which asks pertinent questions prior to their colonoscopy to obtain their medical information, triage them if they need an office visit or proceed directly to schedule a colonoscopy,” said Monina Pascua, MD, PharmD, clinic medical director and gastroenterologist at The Oregon Clinic in Portland.
An example use case of AI in gastroenterology
- Chicago-based GI Partners of Illinois has been active in entering partnerships centered around AI, which has led to improvements in diagnostics, workflows and patient engagement at the organization.
- “When I took this role, we were stuck in the past. I told the executive board, ‘70% of the patients we’ll see are millennials. If we don’t have a digital presence and leverage AI, we’ll fall behind,’” Dr. Geogy Vennikandam, COO of GI Partners of Illinois, told Becker’s earlier this year. “We’re developing an app, expanding partnerships and embracing AI to revolutionize patient care.”
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