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