Background and Objectives: On 11 March 2020, our hospital adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by becoming a temporary COVID-19 facility, leading to the suspension or delegation of non-COVID-19 services. Among the international IBD community, there were significant concerns regarding the neglect of immunocompromised IBD patients and their increased vulnerability to COVID-19. To address these challenges, the COVID-19 ECCO Taskforce recommended the implementation of telehealth. Following this recommendation, our hospital’s IT department integrated audiovisual hardware and software solutions to facilitate virtual consultations. This approach enabled patients and their local physicians to receive formal reports comparable to those issued during standard in-person care. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from patients diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis who participated in telemedicine consultations. Average distances and time saved were calculated using Google Maps, while carbon emissions and carbon footprint reductions were determined. Results: Between 11 August 2021 and 15 June 2023, 107 telehealth consultations were completed. Patients benefited from reduced travel distances, with an average saving of 168.28 km per consultation and a total reduction of 18,006 km. Travel time savings averaged 2 h and 22 min per consultation, amounting to a total of 252 h saved. The reduction in carbon emissions was calculated at 3.26 tons, equivalent to the annual absorption capacity of 109 fully grown trees, considering that an individual tree absorbs approximately 21.77 kg of CO₂ annually. These findings underscore telemedicine’s role in reducing environmental impact while enhancing patient convenience. Conclusions: The adoption of telehealth successfully optimized outpatient clinic operations, maintaining high-quality patient outcomes while contributing to environmental sustainability.

Background/Objectives On March 11, 2020, our hospital adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by becoming a temporary COVID facility, leading to the suspension or delegation of non-COVID services. Among the international IBD community, there were significant concerns regarding the neglect of immunocompromised IBD patients and their increased vulnerability to COVID-19. To address these challenges, the COVID-19 ECCO Taskforce recommended the implementation of telehealth. Following this recommendation, our hospital's IT department integrated audiovisual hardware and software solutions to facilitate virtual consultations. This approach enabled patients and their local physicians to receive formal reports comparable to those issued during standard in-person care. Methods We retrospectively analyzed data from patients diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis who participated in telemedicine consultations. Average distances and time saved were calculated using Google Maps, while carbon emissions and carbon footprint reductions were determined using tools from CarbonFootprint.com and CO2Meter.com. Results Between August 11, 2021, and June 15, 2023, 107 telehealth consultations were completed. Patients benefited from reduced travel distances, with an average saving of 168.28 km per consultation and a total reduction of 18,006 km. Travel time savings averaged 2 hours and 22 minutes per consultation, amounting to a total of 252 hours saved. The reduction in carbon emissions was calculated at 3.26 tons, equivalent to the annual absorption capacity of 109 fully grown trees, considering an individual tree absorbs approximately 21.77 kg of CO2 annually. These findings underscore telemedicine’s role in reducing environmental impact while enhancing patient convenience. Conclusions The adoption of telehealth has successfully optimized outpatient clinic operations, maintaining high-quality patient outcomes while contributing to environmental sustainability.

Background/Objectives: Mucosal healing (MH) is a key therapeutic target in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) associated with sustained remission, reduced hospitalisation, and improved outcomes. Its assessment relies on endoscopic evaluation, which is invasive, costly, and not always feasible. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of infliximab (IFX) and evaluation of available biomarkers may provide non-invasive tools for predicting treatment response. This study investigated the association between IFX pharmacokinetics, routinely available blood biomarkers and MH to identify potential surrogates for predicting treatment outcomes. Methods: A monocentric, retrospective, real-world study was conducted, and pharmacokinetic analysis was performed in NONMEM version 7.5, applying a model with priors to estimate individual pharmacokinetic parameters. Endoscopic findings were collected, and patients were categorised according to achievement of MH. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the predictive value of tested variables, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess discriminative performance. Results: All evaluated variables demonstrated statistically significant associations with MH (p < 0.05). IFX clearance showed a strong inverse relationship with the probability of achieving MH. Leukocyte count exhibited particularly good discriminative ability, with an area under the ROC curve of 74.04% and an odds ratio of 0.78, highlighting its potential clinical utility. Multivariable logistic regression identified a model including IFX clearance and platelet count (PLT) as the most promising predictors of MH. Significant differences between patient subgroups indicated the association of higher PLT and modestly increased IFX clearance with a lower probability of MH. Conclusions: IFX clearance represents a promising surrogate marker for MH. TDM-derived parameters coupled with routinely available biomarkers may improve treatment response assessment. Combining pharmacokinetic and biomarker-based approaches could reduce reliance on repeated endoscopies while facilitating more effective IBD monitoring in clinical practice.