GA Endoscopy and Gastroenterology Associates of SEMO

Health care is changing in southeast Missouri and across the United States. Despite these changes, Gastroenterology Associates of Southeast Missouri continues to be an independent professional corporation dedicated to specialty care in the field of gastroenterology (the study and care of diseases of the digestive system).

Four board-certified gastroenterologists provide Gastroenterology Associates and their patients with over fifty years of combined experience in this specialty. Gastroenterology Associates and GA Endoscopy are making changes to keep pace with evolving health care delivery and patient demands.

GA Endoscopy, located at 1429 Mount Auburn Road in Cape Girardeau, provides the physicians of Gastroenterology Associates and their patients easy access to rooms designed for endoscopic procedures. The clinic or office space is in the same structure as the endoscopy center. This design allows the patient easy access to outpatient endoscopic testing, and in certain situations this may allow the patient to avoid a visit to the emergency room.

Endoscopy, the passage of instruments into the patient allowing direct visualization of internal organs has been available over 40 years. This technique and the equipment has seen several improvements since it's introduction. In the 1980s the technique had improved allowing it to be moved to the outpatient setting and to many centers outside of a hospital. GA endoscopy provides patients in the southeast Missouri a center where testing can be performed at a significant cost savings to the patient. GA Endoscopy is the only freestanding dedicated endoscopy center that is certified by AAAHC (American Association Ambulatory Healthcare Centers) and Medicare.

GA endoscopy is not associated with or owned by a hospital or national corporation allowing for significant cost control yet still providing quality patient service. This allows GA endoscopy to associate with nationally recognized GI Pathology out of Memphis for pathology services.

Submitted photoFront Row, L to R: Timothy J. Edwards, M. D.; H. Lee Schneider, D. O.Back Row, L to R: Dean A. Edwards, M.D.; Matthew J. Coleman, M. D.

Gastroenterology Associates of Southeast Missouri moves forward in 2011 improving workflow and patient care. Plans are under way for adding electronic health records (EHR) and integrating this service with the endoscopy center. The addition of this technology should allow improved information management over the conventional paper chart that has filled the physician's office for years. EHR systems will allow Gastroenterology Associates of Southeast Missouri and GA Endoscopy to participate in quality improvement programs comparing local practices to regional as well as national gastroenterology practices (benchmarking).

Cancer prevention in the form of screening programs will continue with the coverage of preventative testing mandated by the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Colon screening with colonoscopy will continue to be one of the major ways GA endoscopy will participate in preventative testing. GA endoscopy will perform quality assurance reviews to ensure that this testing meets national benchmarks. Adenomatous polyps, a specific type of colon polyp, are thought to be the growth that will later cause most colon cancers. An adenoma detection rate is one of several quality indicators that will allow GA Endoscopy to benchmark colonoscopy screening to national standards.

2011 will be an interesting and busy year for GA Endoscopy and Gastroenterology Associates of Southeast Missouri as it continues to be an active participant in the delivery of health care in Southeast Missouri.