Health care
BY KAROLINE PFEIL
Health Care Edition
2025
Readers, welcome to your annual CI Health Care Edition! If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything—and here in Northwest Austin, we’re lucky to have access to top-notch care, from hospitals and clinics to testing sites and holistic services. Dive into our Annual Health Care Edition to explore your local options, and thank you to our sponsors and advertisers for enabling Community Impact to keep our residents informed.
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What's inside
The reason behind longer hospital wait times (Page 17)
Experts share the importance of dental care for health (Page 19)
Robotics use helping advance North Austin hospitals (Page 24)
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Austin Gastroenterology now o ering AI-assisted colonoscopies locally
Detection averages The adenoma detection rate is the percentage of colonoscopy patients with one or more colon polyps detected.
Austin Gastroenterology
National benchmark
Men
Patients at Austin Gastroenterology will now have access to new AI-assisted colonoscopies. The new procedure will serve as a tool to help special- ists detect growths in the colon without patients feeling any physical change in their colonoscopy experience, according to a news release. The overview During a colonoscopy, a thin, exible camera is inserted into the colon, or large intestine, in order to scan and detect growths or polyps. At Austin Gastroenterology, this procedure will now include additional equipment which will use AI to scan image databases to more accurately compare and detect polyps, said Dr. Sanjana Luther, a board-certi ed gastroenterologist practicing at Austin Gastroenterology. “It’s kind of like an added layer, an extra set of
eyes, to essentially help us detect polyps—spe- ci cally those that might be a little bit harder to detect,” Luther said. The details The technology, referred to as the Medtronic GI Genius module, was introduced at the practice in early April, and is available at all four of the busi- ness’ Austin Endoscopy Center locations in North Austin, South Austin, Bee Cave and Leander. A key indicator of colonoscopy quality is adenoma detection rate, or ADR, according to the practice’s news release, which is the rate of detection of colon polyps in patients. The practice is aiming to improve these numbers with the new GI Genius module, and saw positive improvements in a trial period prior to purchasing the technology, Luther said.
30%
61.2%*
Women
20%
47.5%*
*2024 DETECTION RATES
Recommended steps to reduce colon cancer risk: Reduce red meat consumption Stay physically active Increase ber Avoid smoking or drinking
Get adequate sleep Maintain a healthy diet
Reduce stress
SOURCES: AUSTIN GASTROENTEROLOGY, ELIZABETH KLINGBEIL COMMUNITY IMPACT
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NORTHWEST AUSTIN EDITION
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