COVID and IBD: Practical Considerations for IBD Management, Telehealth, and COVID Vaccination

BySameer K. Berry, MD, MBA

ByWilliam D. Chey, MD, AGAF, FACG

In this episode, Gil Y. Melmed, MD, MS, joins us to discuss the available evidence regarding COVID-19 risk among patients with IBD, the pandemic’s effect on elective procedures, the future of telehealth for gastroenterologists and the importance of vaccination in these patients.

Intro :22
Addressing questions about COVID-19 and the risk to IBD patients :35
Any insight to why patients with IBD aren’t at increased risk? 3:48
How are you dealing with deferral of elective procedures? 5:50
Is there any discussion about what the red lines will be in terms of closing down again? 9:32
How are you adjusting to telehealth? Do you think we’ll see an acceleration of remote care for our IBD patients? 11:53
Are there unique challenges to telemedicine for patients with IBD? 14:23
If we seize the moment, things may change for the better 15:51
Challenges may be different between tertiary care centers and community practices 18:22
Have you noticed an improvement in appointment compliance with telehealth? 19:05
How has the pandemic impacted your research? 21:03
Immunizations we should focus on for IBD patients 24:44
Differences in viability of the vaccination based upon the aggressiveness of immunosuppression 27:40
Do you check follow-up titers? 29:28
Are there other vaccines besides yellow fever we should avoid? 30:45
How will politicizing the pandemic effect our patients in terms of vaccination? 31:42
The threshold for an effective vaccine is 50%, according to the FDA 34:27
The prolonged nature of the pandemic may force payers to continue remunerating for virtual care 37:36
Of the various IBD treatment candidates, are there any that gastroenterologists in the trenches should pay attention to? 39:32
How are you addressing questions from IBD patients regarding travel, school and work? 41:45
We need to adapt and move quickly as information keeps coming 44:46
Are there formal mechanisms in place for sharing information as it pertains to the pandemic? 46:15
Thank you for your time, Dr. Melmed 48:24

Gil Y. Melmed, MD, MS, is co-director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center and professor of medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Editor's Note: This episode was recorded in August 2020.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Berry and Dr. Chey at guttalkpodcast@healio.com. Follow us on Twitter @HealioGastro @sameerkberry @umfoodoc

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Sources/Disclosures

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Disclosures: Berry, Chey and Melmed report no relevant financial disclosures.

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COVID and IBD: Practical Considerations for IBD Management, Telehealth, and COVID Vaccination

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