Healthcare Maintenance in the Patient with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: High-Yield Interventions

Healthcare maintenance in inflammatory bowel disease refers to the ongoing health promotion and preventive care that are implemented while managing patients with this chronic illness. In addition to consolidating information about ongoing conventional treatments, queries should involve the domains of complementary medicine and quality of life given the complex nature of this disease. These patients are particularly at increased risk for infection, malignancy, malnutrition, mental illness, and bone disease. Despite its importance, these services are not delivered at the same rates when compared to the general population. Uncertainty around “ownership” of the patient by the primary care provider, anxiety surrounding safety of health maintenance interventions such as vaccination among immunosuppressed populations, and reimbursement concerns contribute to this gap in care. This chapter aims to be a useful primer, for primary care physicians and gastroenterologists, on the value of healthcare maintenance interventions. In addition, we will highlight practical strategies to enable implementation into practice.