When standard treatment is not enough, there is a center built for complex gastroparesis.
For patients living with chronic, hard-to-control gastroparesis, our Center of Excellence brings specialized diagnosis, infusion-based treatment, and dedicated care coordination together under one coordinated model.
Built for the patients who have run out of answers.
Gastroparesis is the chronic, delayed emptying of the stomach with no physical blockage. For many, careful diet changes and oral medication bring meaningful relief. But a significant group lives with severe, refractory, or autoimmune-related disease, and conventional care simply has not been enough.
Too often, these patients face delayed diagnoses, fragmented care, and repeated emergency visits. The Center of Excellence exists for exactly them.
- Conventional oral therapy has failed, symptoms persist despite diet changes and standard medication.
- Care has been fragmented, repeated ER visits, unclear answers, and no single team in charge.
- Advanced, infusion-based management may help, including treatment for autoimmune-related disease.
Americans live with gastroparesis
Within that population is a complex, underserved group whose disease resists standard treatment, and who need a more advanced model of care.
One clear, clinically guided path, not a maze.
Every patient moves through a structured, evidence-based pathway that confirms the diagnosis, matches treatment to need, and escalates care only when it is clinically appropriate.
Standardized Diagnostic Workup
Care begins with certainty, a precise diagnosis and a clear picture of what is driving the disease.
- Gastric emptying studies and supporting labs
- Structured autoimmune screening for appropriate candidates
- Defined inclusion criteria for clinical appropriateness
Medical & Infusion-Based Management
Treatment is delivered where oral therapy falls short, directly, and matched to each patient’s needs.
- IV hydration and symptom-management protocols
- Anti-emetic and micronutrient infusion therapy
- IVIG therapy for autoimmune-positive or refractory patients
Advanced Care Coordination
When a patient may benefit from procedural options, the Center coordinates the next step, and stays involved.
- Referral pathways to tertiary GI centers
- Procedural options such as G-POEM or gastric stimulation
- Ongoing symptom monitoring and treatment optimization
This tiered model reduces variability in care and ensures each patient progresses through a clear, clinically justified pathway. Procedural interventions, when appropriate, are provided through referral to specialized centers and are not performed at the Center of Excellence.
Treatment that reaches where oral therapy cannot.
When a stomach will not reliably empty, swallowed medication and nutrition often are not enough. Infusion therapy delivers hydration, symptom relief, and, for the right patients, advanced treatment directly.
IV Hydration & Symptom Protocols
Restoring fluids and stabilizing symptoms for patients who struggle to keep food and liquids down, a dependable foundation of supportive care.
Anti-Emetic & Micronutrient Infusion
Targeted relief from persistent nausea, with micronutrient support that addresses the real nutritional toll of chronic gastroparesis.
IVIG Therapy
For patients whose gastroparesis has an autoimmune component, or who remain refractory to other care, intravenous immunoglobulin may be considered when clinically indicated.
Candidacy for every therapy, and for IVIG in particular, is individual, established through clinical evaluation and structured screening. Not every patient is a candidate for every treatment described here.
We work with the nation’s leading carriers
And we manage prior authorization and appeals on your behalf.
Carrier participation varies by plan. Contact us to confirm coverage for your specific plan.
Advanced therapy should not be lost to paperwork.
Infusion therapy, and IVIG in particular, requires prior authorization and detailed medical-necessity documentation. The Center’s coordination team makes that process its responsibility, so it does not become yours.
Benefits Verification
We review your plan up front, so you understand exactly where you stand, in plain terms, before treatment begins.
Medical-Necessity Documentation
We assemble the clinical case, testing, history, and screening results, that carriers require to authorize infusion therapy.
Prior Authorization & Appeals
Our team manages submissions and pursues appeals on your behalf. You should never have to navigate an insurer alone.
Ongoing Coverage Support
Chronic care means recurring therapy. We work to keep authorization current as your treatment continues.
Verification of benefits is not a guarantee of payment. Coverage is determined by each patient’s individual carrier and plan; our role is to give that determination its strongest possible standing.
Specialist leadership at the center of every decision.
Few physicians are as closely identified with the modern care of gastroparesis as Dr. Michael Cline. Over a career devoted to digestive motility disorders, he became a national reference point for patients who had run out of answers.
“Complex gastroparesis does not need more fragmented care. It needs one team, one standard, and a clear plan.”
Dr. Cline anchors the Center’s clinical authority, guiding its treatment protocols, standards, and provider education in a clinical advisory and educational capacity.
THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR MODEL
Care measured by what changes for the patient.
The Center tracks defined clinical metrics, because a model of excellence should be accountable for results, not just intentions.
Symptom Improvement
Tracking functional status and day-to-day relief, not just clinical checkboxes.
Fewer ED Visits
Reducing emergency visits and hospitalizations through proactive, coordinated care.
Faster Time to Therapy
Shrinking the gap between referral and the start of effective treatment.
Sustained Adherence
Supporting patients to stay on the therapy that is working for them.
Four clear steps, with a coordinator beside you for each.
Referral or Inquiry
Patients and physicians can begin directly. A dedicated coordinator becomes your single point of contact.
Diagnostic Evaluation
Standardized testing and screening confirm the diagnosis and clarify what is driving the disease.
Personalized Treatment Plan
An infusion-based plan is matched to your needs, with insurance authorization handled for you.
Monitoring & Coordination
Ongoing review optimizes therapy, and coordinates advanced referral if it is ever needed.
Hosted at Vital Care of Northfield.
The Gastroparesis Center of Excellence operates within Vital Care of Northfield, uniting specialty oversight, standardized diagnostics, and infusion services in one coordinated setting.
It is designed as a model that can grow, establishing a standard of advanced gastroparesis care intended to extend across the wider Vital Care network.
Vital Care of Northfield
[ Street Address ]
Northfield, [ State ZIP ]
Complex gastroparesis deserves a center built for it.
Whether you are a patient seeking answers or a physician seeking a trusted referral, one conversation is the place to start.