ImproveCareNow (ICN) has had extraordinary success since it began 19 years ago,  increasing remission rates for thousands of young people with IBD, transforming how pediatric IBD care is provided, enlightening and exciting clinicians and other care providers, and engaging patients and parents in a shared purpose and effort. We are pleased to share our ImproveCareNow 2025 Annual Update, which includes highlights and achievements from 2025 and plans for our continued work to improve health, care, and costs for young people with IBD in 2026 and beyond.

ImproveCareNow (ICN) has had enormous success since it began 18 years ago, increasing remission rates for thousands of young people with IBD, transforming how pediatric IBD care is provided, enlightening and exciting clinicians and other care providers, and engaging patients and parents in a shared purpose and work. We are pleased to share our ImproveCareNow calendar year 2024 Annual Update, which includes highlights and achievements from 2024 and plans for our continued work to improve health, care, and costs for young people with IBD in 2025 and beyond.

Delayed diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) leads to prolonged symptoms and worse long-term outcomes. We sought to evaluate whether race, ethnicity, disease type, and social factors are associated with delayed diagnosis of pediatric IBD.

ImproveCareNow (ICN) has had enormous success since it began 17 years ago, increasing remission rates for thousands of young people with IBD, transforming how pediatric IBD care is provided, enlightening and exciting clinicians and other care providers, and engaging patients and parents in a shared purpose and work. We are pleased to share our ImproveCareNow 2023 Annual Update, which includes highlights and achievements from 2023 and plans for our continued work to improve health, care, and costs for young people with IBD in 2024 and beyond.

ImproveCareNow (ICN) has had enormous success since it began 16 years ago, including increasing remission rates for thousands of young people with IBD, transforming how pediatric IBD care is  provided, enlightening and exciting clinicians and other care providers, and engaging patients and parents in a shared purpose and work. We are pleased to share our ImproveCareNow Annual Update, which includes highlights and achievements from 2022 and plans for our continued work to improve health, care, and costs for young people with IBD in 2023 and beyond.

ImproveCareNow has had enormous success since it began 15 years ago, including increasing remission rates for thousands of young people with IBD, transforming how pediatric IBD care is being provided, enlightening and exciting clinicians and other care providers, and engaging patients and parents in a shared purpose and work. We are pleased to share our ImproveCareNow Annual Update, which includes highlights and achievements from 2021 and plans for our continued work to improve health, care, and costs for young people with IBD in 2022 and beyond.

Christian Lawson is a former co-chair of the Patient Advisory Council (PAC) and a current improver and member of the ICN Health Equity Committee. Christian was nominated by fellow improver, Lisa Pitch, and was awarded the James A. Stockman Lectureship through The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Foundation. On October 10, 2021, Christian spoke during the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition, sharing his experiences as a young Black patient navigating the chronic illness health care system.

Christian is co-chair of the Patient Advisory Council and a young black man living with Crohn's disease. He delivered a powerful #IgniteTalk at our Fall 2020 Live Online Community Conference. Read a written version of Christian’s Ignite Talk below:

Racial inequity is a public health crisis. Every person deserves culturally sensitive and competent health care. ImproveCareNow believes that every patient and caregiver should get what they need when they need it.

We must do better together.

One of the unique aspects of research in a large network such as ImproveCareNow (ICN) is the opportunity for collaboration. Jennifer Dotson and Michele Cho both submitted protocols to the ICN Research Committee to study racial disparities in pediatric patients with IBD. Both are young eager investigators. The Research Committee helped make a connection, and the result has been the start of important collaborative research utilizing the ICN2 registry. This work exemplifies the power of the ICN network: the power of people and the power of data. I hope you enjoy reading about the outcomes of their work.

Steve Steiner, Co-Chair, ICN Research Committee