Gil Y. Melmed, MD, MS: Practical Considerations for IBD Management, Telehealth and COVID Vaccination

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. Editor's Note: This episode was recorded in August 2020. 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. We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Berry and Dr. Chey at [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter @HealioGastro @sameerkberry @umfoodoc Disclosures: Berry, Chey and Melmed report no relevant financial disclosures.