IBD diagnostic tools and best practices for healthcare providers

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)—encompassing Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis—continues to present a significant diagnostic challenge across healthcare settings. With over $25 billion in annual direct and indirect costs in the U.S. alone, the burden of IBD is not only economic but deeply personal for patients whose diagnoses are often delayed due to the disease’s complex and variable presentations.

Timely recognition and accurate diagnosis are critical levers for improving long-term outcomes, yet the path to early identification often stalls at the first point of clinical contact. Increasingly, evidence points to the essential role of non-specialist providers—particularly in primary care, emergency medicine, and advanced clinical practice—in accelerating IBD detection and referral to specialized care.

Dr. Maia Kayal, Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a clinician at the Susan and Leonard Feinstein IBD Center, will explore this evolving diagnostic landscape in a forthcoming expert-led session. Her insights will focus on equipping a broader spectrum of providers to recognize subtle symptom patterns, understand the utility of emerging diagnostic tools, and implement pragmatic strategies for earlier clinical intervention.

This session offers a data-driven look into how improved diagnostic pathways, shared clinical responsibilities, and multidisciplinary coordination can significantly alter disease trajectories for patients living with IBD. It is particularly relevant for those in front-line care roles—family physicians, nurse practitioners, emergency physicians, and urgent care clinicians—who are increasingly positioned as gatekeepers in the diagnostic journey.

By rethinking how and where IBD is first identified, this discussion aims to foster a broader, systems-level shift toward earlier diagnosis, more timely treatment initiation, and ultimately, better patient outcomes.

Explore the clinical insights on June 4 at 12:00 PM EST.