[Application of a model of continued attention in inflammatory bowel disease: the Crohn-colitis care unit]

To describe the activity performed in the Crohn-Colitis Care Unit (CCCU) and its web portal (http://www.ua-cc.org) during the first 9 years (1999-2007).We retrospectively reviewed the presential and non-presential activity carried out in the CCCU from January 1999 to June 2007 by analyzing the data available in the data base and in the CCCU web portal from January 2002 (data available from the private web environment).The number of patients has progressively increased, and currently stands at 1784. There is equal distribution by gender (880 men vs 904 women) and diagnosis (849 Crohn's disease vs 893 ulcerative colitis). Patients are mostly younger than 50 years old (1404 patients). The non-presential resources (telephone and fax) have been used to a greater extent than the presential resources (11,173 vs 5164). Most requests (15,198) have been specific consultations relating to the disease. The CCCU also monitors treatments such as corticosteroids, immunomodulators, biological agents and granulocyte apheresis (663 in the last year). The web portal has received more than 150,000 visits and has 3698 registered users (1552 patients, 1374 health professionals, 384 relatives of patients, and 388 institutions), mostly from Spain and Latin America (2087 and 1555 respectively).The CCCU offers continued, participative and dynamic care, which promotes remote healthcare and optimizes the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.