Fall 2026 Community Conference #ICNCC26F

We are excited to be hosting our Fall 2026 Community Conference in Detroit, Michigan from September 16 to September 18. We look forward to engaging with healthcare providers, patients, parents/caregivers, researchers and improvers from across ImproveCareNow to all teach and all learn, to share and develop new and innovative approaches to improve pediatric IBD care and outcomes, to further our research, and to build our community. Download our draft agenda and check out some highlights from this upcoming event ⬇⬇

⭐ Learning Objectives at Our Fall Conference

• Apply best practices demonstrated through ImproveCareNow quality improvement, research, clinical practice, and community engagement skills to accelerate improvement in outcomes.​ 
• Generate connections and relationships with clinicians, patients, parents, and trusted partners to work together in new ways for the benefit the IBD community.
• Define the latest research and emerging innovations that build upon our strategic priorities and positively impact our community.

✅ We are grateful for support from partner organizations that has allowed us to discount registration rates to make conferences more accessible for our participating care centers - let us know you're coming!

⭐ Patients and Caregivers are Valued Partners

We are thrilled that patients and parents/caregivers continue to coproduce and lead sessions at our Community Conferences. Here is a listing of #ICNCC26F sessions & events they are directly involved in:

💚 Ignite Talk 🔥 by Autumn (patient)

💙 Advancing Intestinal Ultrasound for Pediatric IBD Disease Monitoring

💚 Navigating the Maze: Health Literacy & Real-World Solutions

💙 Beyond the Dashboard: Making Reliability the Engine of Quality Improvement

💚 Positive Psychological Factors and Pain in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Exploring the Potential Protective Role of Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Quality of Life

💙 IBD Across Generations

💚 Creating Better Care Together: Models and Lessons Learned for Patient and Family Partnership in IBD Care 

💙 Ignite Talk 🔥 by Leah (parent)

💚 Running on Empty: How Patient and Caregiver Burnout Impacts Pediatric IBD Care

💙 Are We There Yet: Barriers to Drug Approval in Pediatric IBD

💚 Clinical Standardization Personalized Care (CSPC) Learning Lab

💙 PAC Shark Tank: Patient-Centered Innovations

💚 Changing the ICN Research Conversation: Strengthening Ethics, Validity, and Engagement

👀 Our agenda is taking shape! A draft agenda is now posted - download it here!

⭐ Introducing our Clinical Guest Speaker

We are looking forward to learning with physician-scientist, Freddy Caldera, DO, PhD, MS in two clinically-focused sessions:

• Health Maintenance in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Vaccination, Cancer Prevention, and Beyond 
• Vaccine Dilemmas in Pediatric IBD: Real-World Cases and Clinical Decision-Making

ℹ️ You can read more about Dr. Caldera and his research interests on the University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine website.

⭐ Exciting New Ways to Participate in this Conference

• Join us Wednesday, September 16 by 1 PM ET for Decisions Together: A Shared Decision-Making Workshop for Combination Therapy. Learn more about this interactive workshop here.
• Then, join the Motown Mix & Mingle hosted by the Patient Advisory Council (PAC) & Parent/Family Advisory Council (PFAC) before the Engagement Fair.
• Finally, unwind after a day of learning with an unforgettable evening featuring music, delicious hors d'oeuvres, and water views at the Social Reception on Thursday.

✅ Register to join us for a conference that's packed full of skill-building and community-proposed breakout sessions, as well as inspirational and engaging plenary sessions, and social time. Registration will close on September 11, 2026.

Continuing Education at #ICNCC26F

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Cincinnati Children’s and ICN, Inc. Cincinnati Children’s is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. This activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change, with one-to-one reciprocity for dietitians. This activity is approved for continuing nursing education (CNE) contact hours. Completion of this CME activity, which includes learner assessment and feedback, enables the learner to earn points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. ImproveCareNow is also pursuing Social Worker CEU credit and Psychology CEU credit for this learning event.

ImproveCareNow is made up of more than 100 care centers and has a presence on three continents, with 90% of the highest ranked pediatric gastroenterology programs in the U.S., including many U.S. News and World Reports 2025/2026 Honor Roll Children’s Hospitals as members. With 1,180 pediatric gastroenterologists and more than 33,000 active IBD patients, ImproveCareNow reaches approximately 55% of IBD patients in the U.S. cared for by pediatric gastroenterologists. ImproveCareNow Community Conferences present the ideal opportunity to engage with these committed healthcare providers, patients and parents, and to learn about recent results in our research and improvement efforts.

Everything we do in ImproveCareNow is magnified by the efforts of thousands of improvers! No action is too small; here are some ways to get started:

💚 Join the Patient Advisory Council (pediatric patients with IBD who are 14+)

💙 Join the Parent/Family Advisory Council (parents/caregivers of young people with IBD)

💚 Participate in our Current Research Opportunities (subject to eligibility)

💙 RSVP to join us at one of our upcoming ICN events

💚 Subscribe to blog updates to stay #InTheLOOP with our IBD stories

💙 Download, use & share our free, co-produced IBD resources

💚 Connect with our welcoming & supportive pediatric IBD community and receive IBD resources, community stories, and ICN updates & opportunities

💙 Donate to ImproveCareNow - we are proud to use every dollar donated to advance our mission!

Our mission is to transform the health, care and costs for all children and adolescents with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD) by building a sustainable collaborative chronic care network.