GIs ‘should still care about hepatology’ as workforce shortage, disease burden rise
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
In 2020, a model in Hepatology projected an impending “critical shortage” of adult and pediatric hepatology providers in the U.S., posing a potential challenge as an increasing number of individuals are expected to present for care.
According to the study, the workforce in 2018 included nearly 7,300 adult hepatology providers, comprised of hepatologists, gastroenterologists and advanced practice providers whose practice was at least 50% hepatology. However, with shortages of up to 35% projected by 2033, it is more important than ever for gastroenterologists and other health care providers to help meet the demand for care.
Image: Adobe Stock
“The general gastroenterologist should still care about hepatology, even though they don’t want to,” Nancy S. Reau, MD, FAASLD, AGAF, previously told Healio Gastroenterology, which is “as easy as” screening for hepatitis B and C viruses. “It is amazing how many times I get a patient referred with abnormal liver enzymes and no one has even done the most basic screening for viral hepatitis.”
In this month’s Healio Exclusive, four hepatologists discuss the importance of gastroenterologists working together to treat and manage patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and viral hepatitis, alcohol use disorder and metabolic dysfunction-associated liver disease. And in a guest editorial, Reau delves deeper into the discussion, making the argument that gastroenterologists should “embrace their role.”
Healio Gastroenterology thanks Sujit V. Janardhan, MD, PhD, Dipl ABOM, Brian Kim, MD, Amit Singal, MD, MS, and Tatyana Kushner, MD, MSCE, for their insights into caring for patients with chronic liver disease and how a multidisciplinary care team can work together to improve patient outcomes and overall survival.
Read more on each hepatologists’ perspective below:
- Reference:
- Russo MW, et al. Hepatology. 2020;doi:10.1002/hep.31425.
Collapse
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts