As one of the top digestive disease centers in the nation, the Cleveland Clinic Digestive Disease Institute is the first of its kind to unite specialists in gastroenterology, hepatology, colorectal surgery, hepato-pancreato-biliary and transplant surgery and nutrition services. This collaboration better serves patients, while enhancing opportunities for research and physician education.
Departments & Centers
2009 U.S.News & World Report Rankings
U.S.News & World Report has consistently ranked the Cleveland Clinic among the top 10 in digestive diseases as part of their “America's Best Hospitals” survey.
Nationally: No.2 since 2003
Ohio: No.1 since 1990
2008 Digestive Disease Patient Experience Data
The Digestive Disease Institute’s Endoscopy Units were recognized in April 2009 by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) for high quality of care and promoting the highest standards of safety for their patients.
Cleveland Clinic has placed a renewed emphasis on improving the patient experience by establishing the role of Chief Experience Officer. In August 2009, Digestive Disease Institute Vice-Chairman James Merlino, MD and Executive Chief Nursing Officer, Sarah Sinclair, RN, were named by the Clinic to collaboratively lead the office.
As Chief Patient Experience Officer, Dr. Merlino will help ensure that all aspects of the patient experience meet the highest standards. Committed to patient-centered care, Dr. Merlino has helped spearhead initiatives to improve access and communication within the Digestive Disease Institute.
“Providing excellent patient experience isn’t centered on one or two executives. It takes every doctor, every nurse, every employee to make sure patients leave here with a good experience,” Merlino said. “It’s a culture. My goal is that when people hear Cleveland Clinic, they think of great patient experience.”
Our colorectal surgeons are highly experienced in laparoscopic procedures, having performed more than 2,100 laparoscopic intestinal resections and averaging 8 to 10 cases each week.
Our liver transplant program is one of the nation's largest, performing 148 liver transplants in 2008.
An average of 20 to 35 patients a week from around the world are seen at our Pouchitis Clinic — the first of its kind in the nation with an average of 1,000 pouch patient visits per year and 500 pouch endoscopies per year.
For more than 25 years, Cleveland Clinic has been using its David G. Jagelman Inherited Colorectal Registries to follow high-risk colorectal cancer patients and families. The registries are the largest of their kind in the United States and second largest in the world.
The Digestive Disease Institute recently opened a new multidisciplinary, education and research-focused center for hereditary colorectal cancers in which the Jagelman Registries now reside. The Sanford R. Weiss Center for Hereditary Neoplasia allows Cleveland Clinic institutes involved in the research and treatment of colon cancer to join forces and expand our research efforts to provide more efficient care, focused on hereditary colon cancer as well as education to caregivers, patients and families.
2008 Digestive Disease Institute Statistics
100,954
The total number of patient visits
5,398
The total number of admissions
5,092
Total number of surgical cases
7.2
Average length of stay
33,269
Total number of endoscopic cases