Expanding Solutions

Over the last 20-plus years, Physicians Endoscopy (PE) has planted roots in the GI landscape. PE has overcome speed bumps, welcomed changes, and most importantly, continued to grow and evolve with the GI community.

In August 2019, Physicians Endoscopy and Capital Digestive Care (CDC), one of the largest GI groups in the country, entered into a strategic joint venture partnership. This led to the formation of a practice solutions platform designed to support and improve the performance of independent GIs and their practices. This was a solution that enhanced PE’s existing services for GIs and their ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs).

About a year and a half after the launch of the practice solutions platform and 22 years since PE’s founding, the company is undergoing the launch of a brand expansion to reflect its ability to meet all of the needs of GI physicians under an all-encompassing platform.

Physicians Endoscopy Is Now PE GI Solutions

With the expansion into practice solutions, PE positioned itself as the thought leader in the GI community and the GI partner. The foundation of the organization is built on improving the lives of patients and giving physicians the opportunity to maintain their independence while practicing medicine.

“PE GI Solutions is unique in that it is a holistic solution designed solely for the GI physician,” says David Young, President and Chief Executive Officer of PE GI Solutions. “Through a series of strategies, it helps GI physicians run their businesses, remain independent, and gain more time to spend with, and deliver quality care to, patients.”

The expanded offering combines two strategic partnership opportunities under a shared services model. PE Center Solutions platform specializes in the development and management of freestanding, single-specialty endoscopic ASCs through aligned investments and collaboration with practicing physicians, health systems, and hospitals.

PE Center Solutions presents a number of opportunities for GI physicians and health systems to build, develop, and optimize a new or existing GI-specific ASC. “Whether partnering to create a new ASC from the ground up, acquiring and managing the business operations of an established ASC, or engaging in a joint venture, we are committed to offering options that benefit all parties. With a flexible service model and several different ownership and investment opportunities, our partners can maintain their stake in the business while remaining independent,” Young says.

The PE Practice Solutions platform, formulated with CDC, is the physician-oriented management services platform that specializes in aligning business growth objectives of GIs through investment opportunities to improve and grow practices while maintaining physician independence. “Business and healthcare should complement each other, not stand at odds,” Young says. PE Practice Solutions helps physicians achieve the best of both worlds through the resources, infrastructure, and management services gastroenterologists need to be able to focus on doing what they do best: providing quality patient care.

Services delivered via the platform include full-service management, finance, clinical and operational excellence, information technology, physician recruitment and human resources, revenue cycle management, payor contracting, marketing, policy advocacy, and specialty and ancillary services.

“It’s an all-encompassing offering for GI physicians wherever they practice, supplied by our team of experts,” says Young. “We’ve been serving GI specialists exclusively for more than two decades, which has made us highly specialized and able to develop a single platform that meets all of their service requirements.”

Why the Time Was Right

The expansion—and concurrent rebranding and website redesign—is a natural evolution for the company, says Suzette Sison, Senior Director of Marketing for PE GI Solutions.

“Prior to our partnership with CDC, if you asked people to describe Physicians Endoscopy, we were a management company for GI ASCs,” Sison says. “We helped so many physicians within our ASCs, but then they would go back to their ‘homes’—their practices—and still need assistance from a clinical and operational perspective.” The practice is where much of the activity for a GI physician begins. The formation of the partnership with CDC extended PE’s capabilities and allowed for the expansion of offering support from the practice side, as well.

Conversations about undergoing a name change began around that same time, which also coincided with Young being named president and CEO of the company. For a while, the ASC and practice service lines essentially operated as separate entities. While unification of the service lines was part of the company’s long-term plan, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a change.

“The needs of GI physicians became further apparent during this health crisis,” Young says. “Physicians were reaching out to us and seeking help to determine what they should and should not do in response. That led to our ASC and practice teams collaborating more closely and leveraging each other’s expertise, which refined what we were doing for current partners and could do for prospective clients. This inherently accelerated our evolution and the necessity for us to ensure we were well-positioned to support the evolving needs of GI physicians.”

Benefits for the Entire Continuum of Digestive Care

At its core, PE GI Solutions partners with physicians to improve the financial outlook and operations of their practices while allowing them to stay independent and focusing more on providing the best possible patient care.

But PE GI Solutions doesn’t just benefit physicians and their ASCs, practices, and ancillary services. PE GI Solutions also supports hospitals and health systems by improving financial and clinical outcomes. This is achieved through delivering investment guidance for GI service lines and developing and managing first-class GI ASCs.

However, it may be patients who stand to benefit most. PE GI Solutions works with its partners’ healthcare teams to leverage tools and resources to help ASCs and practices run smoother. Such collaboration helps improve and expand access to GI services and ultimately permits physicians to dedicate more time to patient care. When patients seek out PE GI Solutions-partnered organizations, they can expect to receive the most appropriate care at the right time, at the right place, and in the most efficient manner.

“The purpose of PE GI Solutions is to provide patients with access to quality digestive care through strategic physician partnerships, leadership, and advocacy that services the GI community with clinical and operational excellence, resulting in positive health outcomes,” Young says. “The dream for this platform is to improve the lives of GI physicians, healthcare teams, and their patients through positive experiences across the digestive healthcare landscape. I believe we will make this dream a reality.”

Learn more about PE GI Solutions and get GI industry updates at pegisolutions.com.