The impact of a dedicated contact centre on the clinical outcome of patients with inflammatory bowel disease during the COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

Background: With the interruption of elective activity during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a reorganisation of health care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was warranted. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a dedicated contact centre service (CCS) on the reorganization of a high-volume IBD centre and on the continuity of care during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: We compared the CCS services provided to 3680 IBD patients and clinical outcomes before (January–February 2020) and during (March–April 2020) the COVID-19 period. We further included, as comparator, data from March to April of the previous year (2019). Results: During the outbreak, the CCS received an increase of 10.2% of contacts, from 881, in January–February 2020, to 971 ( p = 0.02). An increase of 6% in CCS activities was also reported in comparison with March–April 2019 (from 914 to 971 in March–April 2020, p = 0.71). Before COVID-19, in both periods most contacts (67% in January–February 2020 and 60% in March–April 2019) required information about clinical activity, while fewer (33% in January–February 2020 and 40% in March–April 2019) requested logistic information. During the pandemic, most contacts (65.1%) asked to speak with a physician, 23.7% asked for information, while 11.1% wanted to cancel/postpone their appointments. Among all the information, 66% concerned COVID-19. In March–April 2020, 259 outpatient visits were booked, but were all replaced by phone consultations. No difference was detected in the number of intravenous biological administrations (307 versus 296, p = 0.64), surgeries (10 versus 9, p = 0.82) and urgent hospitalisations (10 versus 12, p = 0.67) before and during the COVID-19. Conclusion: The CCS was an effective tool in the reorganization of the IBD centre. Scheduled visits were replaced by phone calls. The main clinical outcomes were maintained in the COVID-19 period. Virtual follow-up using the CCS could be implemented after the pandemic to optimise the resources of the IBD centre.

Care for children with atopic dermatitis in the Netherlands during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Lessons from the first wave and implications for the future

“…Although limited literature is available, a similar increase in total (remote) consultations has been reported in (adult) patients with (chronic) inflammatory diseases as well. 23 It would be interesting to further investigate the impact of COVID‐19 on health care among different diseases, as well as different age groups.…”

Clinical Diagnosis and Phar-maceutical Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

“…Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a global tragedy that changed the traditional management plan of all diseases, with no exception of patients with IBD [ 11 , 153 – 155 ]. Bravely, the main clinical outcomes were maintained during the COVID-19 pandemic period largely because scheduled visits were replaced by phone calls and virtual consultations [ 156 ]. Virtual clinic follow-up using the contact center service (CCS) on the reorganization of a high-volume IBD centers and on the continuity of care during the COVID-19 outbreak.…”

Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Clinical Diagnosis and Surgical Treatment-Overview

“…Surgical management of patients with IBD during the COVID-19 pandemic: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a global tragedy that changed the traditional pharmacologic and surgical management plan of patients with IBD [ 10 , 93 , 94 , 95 ]. The main clinical outcomes were maintained during the COVID-19 pandemic period largely because scheduled visits were replaced by phone calls and virtual consultations [ 96 , 97 , 98 ]. Virtual clinic follow-ups used the contact center service (CCS) based on the reorganization of high-volume IBD centers and on the continuity of care during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Virtual clinic follow-ups used the contact center service (CCS) based on the reorganization of high-volume IBD centers and on the continuity of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. This approach could be implemented after the pandemic to optimize the resources of IBD centers [ 96 , 99 ]. This has led to substantial changes, causing the interruption of non-essential endoscopic procedures and outpatient visits, particularly impacting the assessment of disease activity by increasing the risk of relapse, disease complications, delays of new diagnosis and the detection of early post-operative recurrence of CD [ 100 ].…”