What Clinical Guidelines and Advocacy Positions Does ACG Publish?

The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) publishes clinical guidelines through its peer-reviewed journal, The American Journal of Gastroenterology (AJG), and takes public advocacy positions on payment, workforce, and access issues affecting gastroenterology practice. The most recent guideline highlighted on gi.org covers the diagnosis and management of adenomatous polyposis syndromes (Mankaney et al., September 2026). On the policy side, ACG has issued a task force report on strengthening the GI workforce and joined AGA and ASGE in submitting recommendations to CMS on proposed 2027 Medicare rules. These materials are aimed at practicing gastroenterologists, trainees, and others tracking how digestive disease care is regulated and reimbursed.

Clinical Guidelines: What ACG Publishes and Where to Find It

ACG's clinical guidelines are published in AJG, the College's flagship journal. The gi.org homepage features a "Current Issue" section linking to AJG articles, podcasts, and CME content, and highlights a monthly "Article of the Month."

Recent guideline and featured topics

How to access guidelines

• AJG journal pages — the primary publication venue for full guideline text; gi.org links to the current issue and article pages.
• Article of the Month — a rotating spotlight on the homepage that surfaces one guideline or major paper at a time.
• CME and podcasts — AJG content is paired with CME activities and podcast discussions, useful if you want commentary alongside the guideline text.
• ACG Virtual Grand Rounds — weekly live presentations with Q&A (Thursdays at Noon ET, rebroadcast at 8:00pm ET), which often cover guideline-relevant topics.

Note that full guideline text and CME typically sit behind journal or member access; gi.org does not indicate that these are open-access.

Advocacy Positions: Payment, Workforce, and Access

ACG's advocacy content on gi.org centers on three recurring themes: physician reimbursement, the gastroenterology workforce pipeline, and patient access to care.

Medicare payment

• Proposed 2027 Medicare rules: ACG, AGA, and ASGE jointly submitted recommendations to CMS on two CY 2027 proposed rules. ACG's member alert frames these rules as cutting GI payments across care settings.
• Patients First Act: ACG publicly endorsed this Medicare physician reimbursement bill, introduced by the GOP and Democratic Doctors Caucuses.

Workforce and scope of practice

• GI workforce task force report: ACG published a report outlining strategies to bolster the physician pipeline, protect anesthesia access, and support the growing role of advanced practice providers (APPs).
• Physician pipeline, sedation access, and APPs are the three named focus areas of that report.

How to follow advocacy updates

• ACG Blog — the "View All Posts" section carries member alerts and policy statements, including the Medicare rule alert and endorsement announcements.
• Member alerts — time-sensitive notices (for example, the CY 2027 proposed rule comment period) appear as blog posts aimed at members.

Why These Materials Matter for Practice

Guidelines and policy positions serve different but connected purposes:

• Guidelines translate evidence into diagnostic and management recommendations — for example, how to identify and manage adenomatous polyposis syndromes, or which first-line H. pylori regimens are cost-effective in the U.S. context.
• Advocacy positions signal where reimbursement and workforce conditions may shift, which affects staffing models, procedure scheduling, and anesthesia access.
• Task force reports like the workforce report are forward-looking: they propose strategies rather than binding rules, so treat them as directional input rather than settled policy.

Practical Notes and Limits

• Guideline publication dates matter: the polyposis guideline is dated September 2026, and the featured articles reflect the current issue at the time of the homepage snapshot.
• Advocacy items describe ACG's stated positions and joint submissions; they do not indicate that CMS has adopted those recommendations.
• The manuscript submission deadline for the AJG Gut–Brain Axis special issue is listed as December 15, 2026, and ACG 2027 Clinical Research Awards applications close December 7, 2026 (membership required).
• gi.org does not state pricing for membership, journal access, or conference registration; check the relevant registration or membership page for current terms.