- About
- Specialties & Areas of Expertise
- Locations & Patient Information
- Education & Research
- Accepted Insurance
- External Professional Relationships
My name is Benjamin Levy, and I'm a gastroenterologist at the University of Chicago. Gastroenterology is a great specialty. We can prevent colon cancer by performing screening colonoscopies and removing polyps before they turn into cancer. We also get to treat patients that have a wide range of medical problems, such as abdominal pain or severe heartburn or rectal bleeding, liver disease issues, anything really to do with digestion.
Initially, I decided to become a doctor after my grandfather passed away of lung cancer when I was nine years old. And through the years, I thought about several different specialties, and I chose gastroenterology because the opportunity to prevent cancer, to also hopefully diagnose cancers early and to help patients and families get through difficult times, and to help patients navigate care within a health care system, and also for the opportunities to teach the future generation of doctors and to work on public health projects.
I chose the University of Chicago Medicine because of the opportunity to work with some of the top gastroenterologists in the country. I had an opportunity during my last year of training at LSU in New Orleans, my third year, I was selected as a fellow, visiting fellow through the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, and I had the opportunity to spend a month here working with some of the top ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease physicians in the country. I was super impressed with their ability to take care of patients, their research, and I've always thought it would be a great opportunity to practice medicine here one day.
I've had several unique opportunities since becoming a gastroenterologist. I was selected to be in the American College of Gastroenterology's Young Physician Leadership Scholars Program, and I also started a national health education campaign called Tune It Up, a concert to raise colon cancer awareness that I helped to organize with the American College of Gastroenterology, which featured music celebrities such as Lisa Loeb, Rufus Wainwright, Tim Reynolds, the Chicago Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops. Katie Couric even delivered a PSA. And we're continuing to organize these concerts each March during Colon Cancer Awareness Month in order to encourage our country, everyone that's eligible to get screening colonoscopies, 45 and older to get screened in order to try to prevent colon cancer nationally.
Gastroenterologist, Benjamin H. Levy III, MD, specializes in diagnosing and treating a wide range of digestive disease/gastrointestinal tract conditions. Dr. Levy’s practice primarily focuses on colon cancer screening and prevention, abdominal pain, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Along with his clinical practice, Dr. Levy is a researcher who investigates treatments and techniques for patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders. His work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and books, including the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Dr. Levy also serves on both the FDA Related Matters Committee and the PR Committee for the American College of Gastroenterology.
Dr. Levy is passionate about advocating for patients and teaching gastroenterology to medical students, residents and fellows. He is committed to improving healthcare education for patients. He has organized several national health education campaigns, including Tune It Up: A Concert To Raise Colon Cancer Awareness.
In 2017, Dr. Levy helped organize a gastroenterology clinic for refugees resettling in Chicago, and he has presented at several international conferences in Europe teaching about gastroenterology care for immigrants. In 2018, Dr. Levy completed the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Emerging Leaders Program. He currently serves as an Illinois Department of Health COVID-19 Ambassador and has worked to increase colon cancer screening rates.
Specialties
Areas of Expertise
- Colon Cancer Prevention
- Liver Diseases
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Board Certifications
- Internal Medicine
- Gastroenterology
Practicing Since
- 2008
Languages Spoken
- English
- French
Medical Education
- Emory University School of Medicine
Internship
- University of Arizona College of Medicine
Residency
- University of Arizona College of Medicine
Fellowship
- Louisiana State University School of Medicine
Memberships & Medical Societies
- Crohn's and Colitis Foundation
- American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
- American College of Gastroenterology
News & Research
Insurance
- Aetna Better Health *see insurance page
- Aetna HMO (specialists only)
- Aetna Medicare Advantage HMO & PPO
- Aetna POS
- Aetna PPO
- BCBS Blue Precision HMO (specialists only)
- BCBS HMO (HMOI) (specialists only)
- BCBS Medicare Advantage HMO & PPO
- BCBS PPO
- Cigna HMO
- Cigna POS
- Cigna PPO
- CountyCare *see insurance page
- Humana Medicare Advantage Choice PPO
- Humana Medicare Advantage Gold Choice PFFS
- Humana Medicare Advantage Gold Plus HMO
- Medicare
- Multiplan PPO
- PHCS PPO
- United Choice Plus POS/PPO
- United Choice HMO (specialists only)
- United Options (PPO)
- United Select (HMO & EPO) (specialists only)
- United W500 Emergent Wrap
- University of Chicago Health Plan (UCHP)
Our list of accepted insurance providers is subject to change at any time. You should contact your insurance company to confirm UChicago Medicine participates in their network before scheduling your appointment. If you have questions regarding your insurance benefits at UChicago Medicine, please contact our financial counseling team at OPSFinancialCounseling@uchospitals.edu.
Some of our physicians and health professionals collaborate with external pharmaceutical, medical device, or other medical related entities to develop new treatments and products to improve clinical outcomes for patients. In some instances, the physician has ownership interests in the external entity and/or is compensated for advising or speaking about the entity’s products or treatments. These payments may include compensation for consulting and speaking engagements, equity, and/or royalties for products invented by our physicians. To assure objectivity and integrity in patient care, UChicago Medicine requires all physicians and health professionals to report their relationships and financial interests with external entities on an annual basis. This information is used to review relationships and transactions that might give rise to potential financial conflicts of interest, and when considered to be significant a management plan to mitigate any biases is created.
If you are a patient at UChicago Medicine and would like more information about your physician’s external relationships, please talk with your physician. You may also visit the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments website at https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/ . CMS Open Payments is a national disclosure program that promotes a more transparent and accountable health care system. It houses a publicly accessible database of payments that reporting entities, including drug and medical device companies, make to covered recipients like physicians and hospitals.
Information in the CMS Open Payments database could potentially contain inaccurately reported and out of date payment information. All information is open to personal interpretation, if there are questions about the data, patients and their advocates should speak directly to their health care provider for a better understanding.