VIDEO: GIs will need to become ‘better at hepatology’ ahead of looming workforce shortage
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In a Healio video exclusive, Edward V. Loftus Jr., MD, urged gastroenterologists to familiarize themselves with a “four-pronged approach to liver disease” ahead of the critical shortage of U.S. hepatologists expected by 2033.
“It has been estimated and it’s not that far off that we are going to have a big shortage of hepatologists,” Loftus, the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology at the Mayo Clinic, told Healio. “We are all going to need to become a little bit better at hepatology to help out hepatologists because they are not going to be able to do it all [in particular,] metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, alcohol-associated liver disease and viral hepatitis.”
In fact, according to a 2020 model published in Hepatology, by 2033, the U.S. is projected to have 35% fewer hepatology providers than needed to care for the burgeoning population of chronic liver disease patients.
In the February issue of Healio Gastroenterology, Healio sat down with a roundtable of experts to discuss how gastroenterologists will be integral in plugging the anticipated gaps in chronic liver disease management.
“A lack of dedicated hepatology providers is not the only reason gastroenterologists should start to own liver disease,” Nancy S. Reau, MD, FAASLD, AGAF, wrote in an editorial in the February issue. “Just like real estate: location, location, location. Most of the hepatology workforce centers around transplant centers, yet most patients with liver disease do not live in these locations. Connecting patients to accessible providers saves lives.”
Loftus noted that gastroenterologists “can all make an effort here” to help meet the patient demand for care.
“With metabolic liver disease, we can counsel our patients about weight loss, and we can be on the lookout and certainly help in the earlier stages,” he said. “With combination therapies, it’s not as complicated to treat viral hepatitis, and we can help with that as well. Similarly with alcohol-associated liver disease, we can all counsel our patients. Sometimes, we think patients aren’t getting the message but, when it comes from us, I think patients do take that into account.”
Reference:
- Russo MW, et al. Hepatology. 2020;doi:10.1002/hep.31425.
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