As gastroenterologists, we’re no strangers to technological change. From high-definition endoscopes to advanced biologics, innovation has always driven improvements in our field. But today, something different is happening. The digital health revolution is not just about tools, it’s about fundamentally rethinking how we deliver care.
Over the past five years, digital health solutions like telemedicine, remote patient monitoring (RPM), artificial intelligence (AI), and mobile health apps have moved from optional to essential. In gastroenterology, this transformation is offering us unprecedented opportunities to enhance patient engagement, improve diagnostic precision, and extend care beyond the clinic walls.
Telehealth: A New Front Door to GI Care
Perhaps nowhere is this shift clearer than in telehealth. Initially a pandemic necessity, telehealth has evolved into a preferred access point for many of our patients. Whether managing IBD flares, discussing liver function results, or counseling post-op patients, virtual visits allow us to maintain continuity without sacrificing personal connection. According to the American Medical Association’s 2023 report, over half of physicians now view telehealth more favorably than before COVID-19, a sentiment echoed by many of us in practice.
But telehealth’s true power lies in flexibility. For rural patients, it removes geographic barriers. For busy professionals, it offers convenience. For us, it creates efficient touchpoints between procedures and interventions. With CMS extending reimbursement parity through 2025, virtual GI care is not a temporary solution, it’s part of our future.
Beyond the Clinic: The Rise of Remote Monitoring
While telehealth addresses access, remote patient monitoring is redefining chronic care. Imagine tracking an IBD patient’s symptoms and nutritional intake in real time, or monitoring hepatic encephalopathy risk remotely. RPM makes this possible. Though early in adoption, RPM is gaining traction in GI, propelled by innovations in wearable biosensors and app-based symptom tracking.
What excites me most is RPM’s potential to shift our model from reactive to proactive care. Instead of waiting for exacerbations, we can intervene earlier—perhaps preventing hospitalizations entirely.
The potential key features of remote monitoring include continuous multiparameter monitoring, integration of wearable and implantable devices, automated data analysis with clinical decision support, seamless interoperability with the electronic medical record and most importantly patient centered feedback loops. These features leverage our ability to treat, intervene and monitor in ways that can dramatically improve patient care in a cost-effective manner.
AI and Automation: Enhancing, Not Replacing, Clinical Judgment
AI often sparks debate about its role in medicine. In gastroenterology, the answer is becoming clearer: AI is not replacing us—it’s augmenting us. AI-enhanced polyp detection, capsule endoscopy interpretation, and even automated ulcerative colitis scoring are reducing diagnostic variability and increasing efficiency. The recent launch of ASGE’s Artificial Intelligence Institute for Gastroenterology underscores our society’s commitment to safe, thoughtful adoption of these tools.
But integrating AI isn’t just about software. It’s about training ourselves and our teams to trust, verify, and leverage these technologies as extensions of our clinical acumen. AI will improve our diagnostic accuracy and decision-making efficiency while offering cognitive support in a time-efficient manner. AI can assist in improving our treatment plans by reducing cognitive bias and thereby reduce overtreatment and avoiding unnecessary tests. Rare and complex cases can be analyzed and assisted with faster and more accurate diagnoses. Workflows and administrative tasks can be reduced or eliminated leaving more time for the clinician-patient relationship. It is critical that we dip our toe in the water and begin to apply this AI tool to our practice.
The Path Ahead: Thoughtful Adoption Over Hype
Of course, digital health isn’t a panacea. Equity gaps remain. Not all patients have the digital literacy or connectivity to engage fully. Data privacy, clinician burnout from digital overload, and the need for rigorous outcome-based validation are real challenges.
As GI physicians, our responsibility is clear: lead with evidence, prioritize patient-centered outcomes, and avoid chasing trends without proof of benefit.
The digital health revolution isn’t about the technology itself, it’s about using it to restore what matters most: timely, personalized, and compassionate care.
In the years ahead, I believe the most successful GI practices won’t necessarily be those with the newest gadgets, but those that blend innovation with clinical wisdom. Let’s ensure we are among them.
Paul Akerman, MD FASGE, is a gastroenterologist at University Gastroenterology, a GI Alliance practice.