To stay relevant in an ever changing gastroenterology landscape, Larry Kosinski, MD, managing partner of Evanston-based Illinois Gastroenterology Group and president of SonarMD, developed Project Sonar.
Project Sonar is an intensive medical home model for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. Project Sonar started with IGG in 2014 and has since been opened to other gastroenterology groups in Illinois.
Becker's ASC Review asked Dr. Kosinski about Project Sonar's recent growth and the future of gastroenterology in an ASC setting.
Question: How does IGG continue to grow Project Sonar?
Dr. Larry Kosinski: Our growth in Project Sonar is through increased attribution by Blue Cross Blue Shield.
They have recently stepped this up and we have now grown to 700 patients. They have now opened up Project Sonar to other GI Groups in Illinois. We have added three more this year so far.
Q: What do you think gastroenterology will be like going forward, and how does Project Sonar work into that?
LK: Gastroenterologists need to transition themselves from a dependency on procedural income to one that is a hybrid of procedures and care management. We have to diversify or else we will be commoditized.
Q: If you had to start a whole new facility and you were tasked with basing it around one of the three aforementioned specialities, which one would you choose and why?
LK: I would probably focus on orthopedics since we have an aging population who will need those joints repaired. Gastroenterology is too dependent upon one condition, colon cancer.
Learn more from Ms. Soule at the 24th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs in October 2017. Click here for more information.