Magnetic Resonance Elastography for the Clinical Risk Assessment of Fibrosis, Cirrhosis, and Portal Hypertension in Patients With NAFLD.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is rapidly becoming one of the most common causes of liver disease. The progressive subtype of NAFLD, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), leads to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and mortality. Fibrosis is the strongest predictor for complications. Due to the invasive nature of liver biopsy, noninvasive testing methods have emerged to detect fibrosis and predict outcomes. Of these modalities, magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has demonstrated the highest accuracy to detect fibrosis. In this review, we will focus on the emerging data regarding MRE and liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and portal hypertension in NAFLD.

Preparing for the NASH Epidemic: A Call to Action.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are common conditions with a rising burden. Yet there are significant management gaps between clinical guidelines and practice in patients with NAFLD and NASH. Further, there is no single global guiding strategy for the management of NAFLD and NASH. The American Gastroenterological Association, in collaboration with 7 professional associations, convened an international conference comprising 32 experts in gastroenterology, hepatology, endocrinology, and primary care providers from the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Conference content was informed by the results of a national NASH Needs Assessment Survey. The participants reviewed and discussed published literature on global burden, screening, risk stratification, diagnosis, and management of individuals with NAFLD, including those with NASH. Participants identified promising approaches for clinical practice and prepared a comprehensive, unified strategy for primary care providers and relevant specialists encompassing the full spectrum of NAFLD/NASH care. They also identified specific high-yield targets for clinical research and called for a unified, international public health response to NAFLD and NASH.

Pay for Performance in Chronic Liver Disease.

With the advent of the Affordable Care Act, pay-for-performance programs have become widespread in the United States and are here to stay. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services started its pay-for-performance program, the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, in 2007, and made it a permanent system, the Physician Quality Reporting System, in 2011. Although it started off as a pay-for-performance initiative, in which physicians and other health care professionals were rewarded for satisfactorily reporting on selected quality measures, it now has evolved into a penalty-based program. The Physician Quality Reporting System includes measures that target hepatitis C virus infection. It is important for gastroenterologists to be aware of these measures and the submission process to avoid penalties or other difficulties with reimbursement. This review describes the current measures in chronic liver disease, rates of submission, as well as the submission process and associated challenges.