VIDEO: Multidisciplinary care allows for expert ‘concrete suggestions’ in complex GI cases
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In a Healio video exclusive, Edward V. Loftus Jr., MD, emphasized the benefit of a multidisciplinary approach when treating complex gastrointestinal cases, particularly patients with inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome.
Gastroenterologists will often manage patients with difficult-to-treat GI conditions whose symptoms and concerns fall outside their expertise. However, with a multidisciplinary approach, they do not have to be alone in the process.
In the August issue of Healio Gastroenterology, Healio sat down with experts across the spectrum of GI care to determine how to as Sameer K. Berry, MD, MBA, put it “democratize multidisciplinary care — pull it out of the academic ivory tower and make it available to everyone.”
“It is important that we involve multiple care providers,” Loftus, the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology at the Mayo Clinic told Healio. “In the case of both IBS and IBD, it might be useful to get a dietitian involved to get someone who is trained in eliciting a dietary history and making concrete suggestions for the patient.”
He added: “[Similarly] with the GI psychologist, I think there is clearly a role of stress in both IBS and in IBD and psychologists have multiple techniques they can teach patients [such as] how to be resilient and different types of behavioral modifications.”
Most often seen in larger health care systems, a multidisciplinary team approach can be harder to implement in smaller community practices due to poor access to a network of specialists to assist with patient care.
However, in his accompanying editorial, Loftus noted that the first step to implementing multidisciplinary care in one’s own practice is collaborating with the clinicians “you work with most to arrange a regularly scheduled conference to discuss complex cases.” This conference allows for multiple specialists with expertise in GI to provide their unique input on challenging cases and determine the best treatment plan to fit the patients’ needs.
“For complex IBD patients, in particular, having a periodic conference where you can involve the colorectal surgeon, the radiologist and the pathologist to address complex cases is very important,” Loftus told Healio.
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