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Gil Y. Melmed, MD, Director of Clinical Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Advanced Inflammatory Bowel Disease Fellowship Program and Clinical Research in the Division of Gastroenterology at Cedars-Sinai, addressed members of the Orange County Gastroenterology Society at its May 24, 2017 Monthly Dinner Meeting at The Capital Grille in South Coast Plaza.

The evening’s program was part one of a two part IBD Alliance/CME qualifying presentation by the GI Health Foundation.  This program is essential given the rapidly evolving treatment/management of IBD and the realization that the number of patients diagnosed and treated remains low.  Questions and comments following the presentation went well in to the evening.

Part 2 of the IBD Alliance topic will be presented by Gil Y. Melmed, MD on October 18, 2017.  

The winner of this month’s Medelita $100 gift certificate was Quang Phan, MD.  

In addition to the monthly gift certificate, Medelita has generously offered all OCGI members a one-time use discount code of 20% to be used on any Medelita products when they spend $100 or more. Simply visit http://www.medelita.comand enter OCGIDINNERPARTY at check out.

Please visit our Calendar for information on the June 21, 2017 Monthly Dinner  at The Cellar in Fullerton.

The Orange County Gastroenterology Society (OCGI) had the pleasure of spending the evening at The Ranch in Anaheim and discussing ulcerative colitis, MACRA and MIPS with Glenn D. Littenberg, MD compliments of AbbVie.

While maintaining a private Gastroenterology practice and independent ambulatory endoscopy center in Pasadena, California, Dr. Littenberg has long represented GI and internal medicine to the AMA CPT Panel. In 2006, he completed an 8 year term on the Editorial Panel. In addition, he had chaired the Coding Subcommittee of the American College of Physicians (ACP) for several years.

Currently, Dr. Littenberg is the CPT Advisor for ASGE and chair of ASGEs Reimbursement Committee in addition to having served as chair of the Practice Management Committee for 6 years. He wrote and edited many chapters of ASGEs Coding Primer: A Guide for Gastroenterologists, newly revised for 2016, and speaks widely on healthcare reform, coding, Medicare compliance, and trends in GI Practice.  He is the Chief Medical Officer of his 50+ physician GI group, inSite Digestive Healthcare which now spans from San Francisco to Orange County and is the largest GI group in California. He has spoken at national conferences about MACRA implications for GI practice and works with his “MIPS Task Force” within his group to plan the group’s reporting for MIPS.

The lively Q&A following Dr. Littenberg’s informative and often humorous presentation helped shed a light on the difficult yet inevitable changes to come in GI practices.  Dr. Littenberg has graciously shared his presentation slides with OCGI.

Allan M. Effron, MD was this month’s lucky recipient of the Medelita $100 gift certificate as the fourth OCGI member to sign in for the evening.  

In addition to the monthly gift certificate, Medelita has generously offered all OCGI members a one-time use discount code of 20% to be used on any Medelita products when they spend $100 or more. Simply visit http://www.medelita.com and enter OCGIDINNERPARTY at check out.

Please visit our Calendar for information on the May 24, 2017 OCGI Monthly Educational Dinner at The Capital Grille.

In a beautifully appointed room at Antonello’s Ristorante, still adorned with hearts from the previous evening’s Valentine’s Day festivities, Mitchel Guttenplan, MD, Medical Director, Centers for Colorectal Health, spoke to the OCGI Society on The Non-Surgical Treatment of Hemorrhoids and Fissures.  The evening was sponsored by CRH Medical Products.

Dr. Guttenplan’s ability to engage with the audience using personal stories and humor was not overshadowed by his vast knowledge on the topic.  Deftly responding to questions posedby attendees while addressing perianal disease and the use of the CRH O’Regan System, he could have gone on well in to the evening and kept a rapt audience.

Dr. Guttenplan has generously shared a PDF version of the presentation.  OCGI Society would like to thank Dr. Guttenplan and CRH Medical Products for their time and sponsorship.

Meanwhile, this month’s winner of the Medelita $100 gift coupon was awarded to the tenth OCGI member to sign in to the dinner event on February 15, 2017….Meredith Clary, MD!!!!  A new member of OCGI as of 2017, Dr. Clary is a fellow at UC Irvine’s School of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology.  Welcome aboard, Dr. Clary, and Congratulations!

In addition to the monthly gift coupon, Medelita has generously offered all OCGI members a one-time use discount code of 20% to be used on any Medelita products when they spend $100 or more.  Simply visit http://www.medelita.com and enter OCGIDINNERPARTY at check out.

Stay safe in this rainy winter in Southern California and we look forward to seeing everyone at the March 22, 2017 OCGI Dinner Meeting at Morton’s Steakhouse!