Submitted by Gastroenterology Consultants
Quality
Colonoscopy matters. Colonoscopy for detection of colon polyps and
cancer has become standard for adults beginning at age 50
(African-American, starting at age 45). However, not all colonoscopy
examinations are equivalent in their quality. There are several
advantages in having your colonoscopy scheduled through Gastroenterology
Consultants.
Gastroenterology Consultants is a division of
Heartland Clinic, whose other organizations include Heartland Center for
Motility, Heartland Pathology, and Valley View Pain Center. Affiliated
organizations include Regional SurgiCenter, a multi-specialty ambulatory
surgery center. This allows for a comprehensive approach to your
gastrointestinal needs. Our physicians work in concert with our
anesthesia team, pathologists, and interventional pain specialist to
provide the highest quality care in an efficient and friendly manner.
We believe that this team approach centered on quality, efficiency
and value all at one site make us the clear leader in specialty
gastrointestinal care in the Quad-Cities area.
Gastroenterology Consultants
Gastroenterology Consultants is a group made up of
gastroenterologists, a pediatric gastroenterologist, nurse practitioner,
clinical dietician, nurses, medical assistants, and other support staff
who are dedicated to you and your family’s gastrointestinal health.
Dr. Rao Movva, founder and Chairman of Heartland Clinic, has
dedicated his 35 years of experience to early detection and prevention
of colon cancer.
Chief Executive Officer of Gastroenterology
Consultants, Arvind Movva, MD, was raised in the Quad Cities. He offers a
full range of gastroenterology care and procedures including ERCP,
Endoscopic Ultrasound, Hemorrhoidal Banding, and cures for Barrett’s
esophagus.
Regional SurgiCenter
We
perform the vast majority of our procedures at Regional SurgiCenter,
which is located under the same roof. This allows convenient care that
is at approximately half the cost of what an identical procedure would
cost in a hospital setting in the Quad-Cities area, even if the
physician is the same in both places. This represents a true value to
the people of the Quad-Cities area. Regional SurgiCenter is an
ambulatory surgical center with the highest level of accreditation. Our
gastroenterologists have extra training in gastrointestinal procedures.
Regional SurgiCenter also has some of the latest technology including
radio frequency ablation therapy for the treatment of Barrett’s
esophagus.
The Regional SurgiCenter was the first to offer
endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), with fine needle aspiration (FNA), in the
Quad Cities. EUS service allows for staging of gastrointestinal and lung
cancers, avoiding unnecessary invasive procedures. Having a
cytopathologist on-site to review specimens takenduring FNA is unique.
This prevents multiple biopsies from being taken unnecessarily. “Our
setting offers the advantage of the patient’s biopsy sample(s) being
transported directly from the endoscopy suite to the pathologist in a
very timely manner,” says Dr. Pamela Papas, Pathologist.
“Pathologist-Gastroenterologist interaction is facilitated as a result
of being under one roof. We are proud to offer this coordination of
services.”
Regional SurgiCenter is equipped with
state-of-the-art high-definition series endoscopes. These wide-view
endoscopes provide magnified high-definition images of the digestive
system, which result in improved polyp detection.
Sedation for
procedures at Regional SurgiCenter is accomplished with Propofol, under
the supervision of trained and certified anesthesia staff. Propofol is a
fast acting, comfortable anesthetic with an excellent safety profile.
It has rapid clearance and a short clinical effect, resulting in a
faster recovery time for patients.
Regional SurgiCenter has an
active quality assurance program that monitors nursing and physician
documentation and outcomes, including colonoscopy withdrawal times and
adenoma (precancerous polyp) detection rates. These quality measures are
compared against data collected from around the country, in order to
assure that all colonoscopies done at Regional SurgiCenter are of the
highest quality.
Microscopic examination of all tissue
(including polyps) removed during endoscopy are performed in our
in-house pathology laboratory, Valley Laboratories. Board-certified
pathologists review slides and reports are integrated directly into your
records. This allows for faster review, allowing us to get the reports
back to our patients more quickly.
Gastroenterology Consultants
also provide the renowned skills of Dr. Scott Colter, a liver specialist
from Loyola, who works with the Gastroenterology Consultant physicians
in providing expert opinion on liver disease.
Why choose Regional SurgiCenter over a hospital for your GI Procedure?
Are you scheduled for a GI procedure at the hospital or are you
weighing your options of where to have your next procedure? If you are,
here is some information that may help you in the decision-making
process.
- Quality: For more than 30 years,
patients from the Quad Cities and surrounding areas have been coming to
Gastroenterology Consultants and Regional SurgiCenter to receive their
gastrointestinal care in a safe setting that was founded on servicing
the unique needs of GI patients. - Efficiency/Convenience:
When you are scheduled for a procedure, you do not want to have to
navigate a large, confusing facility and spend a lot of time waiting
before and after your procedure. At Regional SurgiCenter, most cases are
complete and the patient is discharged within two hours of checking in. - Cost: If
those two factors are not convincing enough, consider the cost. Do you
know that at a hospital, the amount you pay out-of-pocket for the
facility fee can be twice as much or more than what the fee is at
Regional SurgiCenter, even if the same doctor does your procedure? If
you are a Medicare beneficiary with no secondary insurance coverage, for
example, you are responsible for 20 percent of the facility allowable.
Because Regional SurgiCenter is an Ambulatory Surgery Center, costs are
generally much lower than at the hospital.
The examples
below show how payments affect Medicare and what a Medicare beneficiary
with no secondary insurance pays out-of-pocket for some common GI
procedures. If you have a deductible, your pocketbook will be affected
even more.
Colonoscopy Cost
Hospital $569.89
Regional SurgiCenter $332.98
Patient’s Portion at Hospital $113.98
Patient’s Portion at Regional SurgiCenter $66.60Your Savings $47.38
Upper Endoscopy (EGD) Cost
Hospital $611.73
Regional SurgiCenter $316.57
Patient’s Portion at Hospital $122.35
Patient’s Portion at Regional SurgiCenter $63.31Your Savings $59.04
Sigmoidoscopy Cost
Hospital $379.40
Regional SurgiCenter $92.21
Patient’s Portion at Hospital $75.88
Patient’s Portion at Regional SurgiCenter $18.44Your Savings $57.44
Heartland Center for Motility
One in five Americans struggles with common bowel dysfunction. Most
are easily treated but some can be difficult to diagnose. At the
Heartland Center for Motility, we work hard to find the cause of your
discomfort and treat it rather than just treating your symptoms.
Functional digestive disorders afflict up to 20 percent of the American
population, resulting in at least 3.5 million office visits each year.
Studies show that more people would be prompted to seek help for their
digestive disorders if they were confident the disorders could be
corrected.
At the Heartland Center for Motility, we offer
patients a unique, multidisciplinary approach, which integrates medical,
physiological, and psychological modalities in the evaluation,
understanding and treatment of patients with digestive disorders. Our
Motility Center staff utilizes the latest in computer-aided technology
to administer thorough, accurate tests which are then carefully analyzed
and utilized to make timely recommendations for treatment.
At
the Heartland Center for Motility, adult patients are thoroughly tested
with the latest computer-aided technology. This technology coupled with a
unique software package, performs a hosts of tests, including:
- Anorectal manometry: Measuring pressure in the anal canal and rectum for patients presenting with incontinence or constipation
- Esophageal manometry: Measuring pressure in the esophagus for patients presenting with chest pain or difficulty swallowing
- Esophageal pH study: Measuring reflux acids in the esophagus, for patients suffering from heartburn
- Impedance pH study: Measuring non-acidic reflux in patients with persistent symptoms despite acid suppression treatment
- Colon motility/transit studies: Measuring the movement of waste through the colon with dye, for patients presenting with constipation or chronic diarrhea
- Gastric emptying: Measuring the flow of solid or liquid meals for patients with unexplained nausea or vomiting
- Breath testing: Evaluates for carbohydrate intolerances such as Lactose, Fructose and Fructan intolerance
Valley View Pain Center
Pain is a complicated, often debilitating medical problem that can
have a major impact on your physical and mental well-being. Valley View
Pain Center offers a comprehensive range of services for patients
suffering from acute or chronic pain. Through the combined expertise of a
multidisciplinary team of pain specialists, we offer the most advanced
treatment options currently available, in a supportive, compassionate
environment. “At Valley View Pain Center, we have the ability to provide
patients with something unavailable anywhere else in the Quad Cities — a
full-time pain center offering a new level of consistency and
availability,” states Dr. Sanjay Sundar.
Registered Dietician
Dietary modification to address medical issues involving dietary
intake is a major part of dietetics (the study of nutrition as it
relates to health). For example, working in consultation with physicians
and other health care providers, a dietitian may provide specific
artificial nutritional needs to patients unable to consume food
normally. A dietician can:
- Provide reliable, objective information
- Separate facts from fads
- Translate the latest scientific findings into information that is easy to understand and use
With all of the above entities working together as a team,
Gastroenterology Consultants is the comprehensive facility for all your
gastrointestinal needs. We look forward in being able to serve you and
your family for years to come.
To schedule an appointment with Gastroenterology Consultants, please call them at 309-762-5560 or visit their website at www.gastroconsultantsqc.com.
Meet the Physicians of Gastroenterology Consultants
Arvind Movva, MD, CEO of Gastroenterology Consultants, with four years experience in Gastroenterology private practice.
Sanjay Sundar, MD, Anesthesiologist and Pain Management Specialist at Valley View Pain Center, with six years experience
Mohammed Yassen, MD, the first pediatric gastroenterologist in the Quad City area with 19 years experience
Ishan Bhattacharya, MD, with over 25 years of experience in gastroenterology and hepatology.
Pamela Papas, MD, Pathologist of Valley Laboratories, with 23 years experience.
Erin Hayes, ARNP, member of the Gastroenterology Consultants staff since 2003.
Rao Movva, MD, founder of Heartland Clinic, with over 35 years experience.
Robert Glickenberger, MD, with over 19 years experience in GI.
Michael Cassaday, DO, with 22 years of Gastroenterology experience.
Jon Potter, DO, Native of central Illinois, starting with Gastroenterology Consultants in March 2014, offers 10 years experience
in general GI and endoscopy. “I’m excited to join the premier GI group
of QC in a community that feels like home,” says Dr. Potter. “I believe
in an evidence-based, team approach to care. I listen carefully to a
patient, customizing guidelines and technology to meet their individual
needs.”