A New Clinical Partnership in Digestive Health

UT Health Austin and Ascension Seton are excited to announce a new Digestive Health clinical partnership that brings together medical and surgical specialists, integrated behavioral health experts, and medical researchers to provide comprehensive care for general gastroenterology (GI), inflammatory bowel disease, and disorders of the liver, pancreas, esophagus, and more. This collaboration allows for specialized teams across healthcare entities to come together under the mission of transforming healthcare and redesigning the academic health environment to better serve society.

Housed in the clinical spaces at UT Health Austin with access to the full-scale hospital resources at the neighboring Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas and other Ascension Seton locations across Austin, the Digestive Health team has the ability to provide the most advanced treatments available to patients in Central Texas and beyond with a focus on patient-centered outcomes, cutting-edge research, and medical education.

“This is our first clinical practice partnership with UT Health Austin, bringing together the best of clinical and operational expertise to expand our specialty care to serve our community,” said Clay Carsner, Chief Operating Officer at Ascension Medical Group in Texas. “Together, we are advancing the latest research and technological developments in this field of medicine and building an integrated system of care that is a collaborative resource for clinicians and their patients.”

“This partnership allows patients and families to stay close to home for all of their health care needs, making our team-based model of care more convenient than ever before,” said C. Martin Harris, MD, UT Health Austin’s Health Enterprise Associate Vice President and Professor of Internal Medicine at the Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin.

Digestive Health is led by Medical Director and Dell Medical Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Deepak Agrawal, MD, MPH, and Surgical Director F. Paul “Tripp” Buckley, MD, who is also an associate professor in the Dell Medical School Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care. Dr. Agrawal and Dr. Buckley will lead a team of GI and surgical subspecialists who are national leaders at the forefront of their field.

With scheduled patients traveling from over 30 states and five countries, Dr. Buckley says, “We are proud to serve our local community, the entire state of Texas, and patients nationally and internationally. This is a testament to our patient-centered, integrated approach designed to decrease wait times for consults and diagnostics as well as optimize outcomes that matter most to patients.”

“More than 60 million Americans are affected by digestive diseases, and the available diagnostic and treatment options are increasing in number and complexity,” said Agrawal. “With input and collaboration from subspecialized gastroenterologists, surgeons, and behavioral health experts, we are able to give patients choices regarding how they would like to move forward with treatment, which is often unique in gastroenterological care.”

Common conditions treated at Digestive Health include:

• Achalasia
• Cirrhosis
• Colorectal cancer
• Crohn’s disease
• Colitis
• Eosinophilic esophagitis
• Fatty liver disease
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease
• Heartburn
• Hepatitis
• Hiatal and paraesophageal hernias
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Pancreatic cyst
• Pancreatitis

With advancements in any field of medicine, innovation most often comes from the close collaboration of a variety of specialists and teams. Because GI is a broad field, clinicians and patients both benefit from Digestive Health’s multidisciplinary team approach to care delivery and care advancements.

For more information about services offered in Digestive Health visit here. To schedule an appointment, call 1-844-442-8784.