News

ImproveCareNow is a collaborative community where clinicians, researchers, parents, patients, and improvers are empowered to learn and continuously improve to bring about more reliable, proactive IBD care, and healthier children and youth. We are pleased to share our Annual Update, which includes highlights and achievements from 2016 and plans for our continued work to improve care and health for kids with IBD in 2017 and beyond.

In 2016 ImproveCareNow:

LOOP is the official blog of ImproveCareNow and home of #myICN stories. The blog, which features stories from patients, parents, clinicians, researchers and improvers, was recently recognized as one of the top 100 Crohn’s blogs on the web by Feedspot.

In August funding was announced for a study examining the effectiveness of the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) in reducing symptoms in pediatric patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis using a combination of “N of 1” methods and mHealth technology. This study has been named by the ImproveCareNow community.

The COMBINE Study is now officially enrolling eligible patient participants. COMBINE is a research study looking to answer an important question: For kids with Crohn’s disease who need to start an anti-TNF medication (Remicade or Humira), does adding another medication called Methotrexate lead to better outcomes?

On September 30, 2016 the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University announced that the ImproveCareNow Network is the 2016 Drucker Prize winner. ImproveCareNow was selected for this award from among 495 applicants. Zach First, Executive Director of the Drucker Institute, recognized ImproveCareNow’s work toward “reframing health care from a product delivered to patients to an activity that patients, care providers and researchers co-produce together,” and how the network has “effectively combined the creative energies and expertise of so many who were previously unconnected with each other.”

ImproveCareNow Executive Directors, Richard Colletti, Peter Margolis and Sarah Myers, shared news of this prestigious award with the community earlier today and are calling it a “well-deserved recognition and celebration of the work that every single person in this community moves forward on a daily basis.”

"We are bursting with pride over this recognition of the hard work of many, many people making care for kids better every day. As we celebrate this honor, we also redouble our commitment to doing better, innovating as a community, and inviting even more improvers to join us." - Sarah K. Myers, MPH, RN

Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Funds Project as a Demonstration of PCORnet

A team from ImproveCareNow led by Heather Kaplan, MD, MSCE and Lisa Opipari-Arrigan, PhD will take part in a $2.5 million research project in partnership with the Health eHeart Alliance, to conduct a study using an innovative combination of “N-of-1” study designs and mobile health technology. ImproveCareNow will focus on using a series of N-of-1 studies to understand the effectiveness of the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) in reducing symptoms in patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (also known as Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD) as compared to a liberalized SCD and unrestricted diet.

Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Funds Project as a Demonstration of PCORnet

The ImproveCareNow Network will take part in a $4 million research project to determine the optimal type and frequency of mindfulness-based treatment for managing stress. ImproveCareNow is one of 20 PCORI-funded Patient-Powered Research Networks (PPRNs) participating in this study, which will also demonstrate the capabilities of PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network.

ImproveCareNow has entered into a sponsorship agreement with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). It was announced by Dr. Richard Colletti, Executive Network Director for ImproveCareNow. This sponsorship will enable parent partners to attend ImproveCareNow Community Conferences and will partially support the cost of conference registration for professionals at centers participating in ImproveCareNow. Funding from CCFA will be provided for a three year period.

Michael D. Kappelman, MD, MPH of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (read the UNC press release here) and the ImproveCareNow Network has been awarded $7.9 million in funding from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to conduct a five year study comparing Anti-TNF Monotherapy versus Combination Therapy with Low Dose Methotrexate in Pediatric Crohn’s Disease.