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Improving outpatient services: the Southampton IBD virtual clinic

Improving outpatient services: the Southampton IBD virtual clinic
Improving outpatient services: the Southampton IBD virtual clinic
The follow-up of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients is challenging due to the relapsing remitting nature of the diseases, the wide spectrum of severity and complexity as well as the need for monitoring of long-term complications and drug treatments. Conventional outpatient follow-up lacks flexibility for patients and there are competing pressures for clinic time. Alternative follow-up pathways include telephone clinics, self-management programmes or discharging patients. The IBD virtual clinic (VC) is a further option. Patients with an established diagnosis for >2 years, who have been stable for >1 year, do not have primary sclerosing cholangitis and who give their consent, are entered into the VC system. Two months before their annual follow-up is due patients are sent blood test forms and a simple questionnaire with an information sheet. If they meet any of the criteria on the questionnaire, they are asked to contact the IBD specialist nursing team to discuss their situation. The blood test results and the patient's database entry are reviewed to ensure that they are not due surveillance investigations. The patients and their GPs then receive a letter informing them of their management plan. We currently follow-up 20% of the Southampton IBD cohort using the VC. The VC system is an innovative, efficient and patient-responsive method for following up mild to moderate IBD. It is well liked by patients but is dependent on a well-maintained database with good integration of IT systems and requires both clerical and IBD nurse specialist support
2041-4137
76-80
Hunter, Jo
7118ba62-220a-4afb-9d0d-179ec8346767
Claridge, Andrew
cbe59263-bd05-4365-ae5a-2cff6b3544ba
James, Shirley
e9b82069-440a-4200-b93e-113cbeffef6c
Chan, David
037a1ae8-0518-4a42-97b1-2825c0eb678b
Stacey, Bernard
f5dfe88a-3841-4a8a-a25f-226ca7d04e68
Stroud, Mike
1665ae65-0898-4848-bf0d-baec8f2bb078
Patel, Praful
c92dd012-6d09-43b2-9fac-aaadcb42ea27
Fine, David R.
ce3d6a77-040e-4aec-a8f5-4c4c22431605
Cummings, J.R. Fraser
89e8e80c-b6e8-4387-a63c-3796b5ad7e14
Hunter, Jo
7118ba62-220a-4afb-9d0d-179ec8346767
Claridge, Andrew
cbe59263-bd05-4365-ae5a-2cff6b3544ba
James, Shirley
e9b82069-440a-4200-b93e-113cbeffef6c
Chan, David
037a1ae8-0518-4a42-97b1-2825c0eb678b
Stacey, Bernard
f5dfe88a-3841-4a8a-a25f-226ca7d04e68
Stroud, Mike
1665ae65-0898-4848-bf0d-baec8f2bb078
Patel, Praful
c92dd012-6d09-43b2-9fac-aaadcb42ea27
Fine, David R.
ce3d6a77-040e-4aec-a8f5-4c4c22431605
Cummings, J.R. Fraser
89e8e80c-b6e8-4387-a63c-3796b5ad7e14

Hunter, Jo, Claridge, Andrew, James, Shirley, Chan, David, Stacey, Bernard, Stroud, Mike, Patel, Praful, Fine, David R. and Cummings, J.R. Fraser (2012) Improving outpatient services: the Southampton IBD virtual clinic. Frontline Gastroenterology, 3 (2), 76-80. (doi:10.1136/flgastro-2012-100123).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The follow-up of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients is challenging due to the relapsing remitting nature of the diseases, the wide spectrum of severity and complexity as well as the need for monitoring of long-term complications and drug treatments. Conventional outpatient follow-up lacks flexibility for patients and there are competing pressures for clinic time. Alternative follow-up pathways include telephone clinics, self-management programmes or discharging patients. The IBD virtual clinic (VC) is a further option. Patients with an established diagnosis for >2 years, who have been stable for >1 year, do not have primary sclerosing cholangitis and who give their consent, are entered into the VC system. Two months before their annual follow-up is due patients are sent blood test forms and a simple questionnaire with an information sheet. If they meet any of the criteria on the questionnaire, they are asked to contact the IBD specialist nursing team to discuss their situation. The blood test results and the patient's database entry are reviewed to ensure that they are not due surveillance investigations. The patients and their GPs then receive a letter informing them of their management plan. We currently follow-up 20% of the Southampton IBD cohort using the VC. The VC system is an innovative, efficient and patient-responsive method for following up mild to moderate IBD. It is well liked by patients but is dependent on a well-maintained database with good integration of IT systems and requires both clerical and IBD nurse specialist support

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More information

Published date: April 2012
Organisations: Human Development & Health

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 339855
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/339855
ISSN: 2041-4137
PURE UUID: 27076522-8a1e-48e9-9272-563eb24bb78a

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Date deposited: 31 May 2012 12:44
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 11:15

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Contributors

Author: Jo Hunter
Author: Andrew Claridge
Author: Shirley James
Author: David Chan
Author: Bernard Stacey
Author: Mike Stroud
Author: Praful Patel
Author: David R. Fine
Author: J.R. Fraser Cummings

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