[The task of the medical cooperation system for patients with inflammatory bowel disease in the northern and eastern regions of Hokkaido].

In Japan, establishing a medical cooperation system for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) between IBD flagship and local care hospitals is a crucial task. Thus, this retrospective multicenter cohort study aims to examine the actual state of medical treatment in patients with IBD via a questionnaire survey administered to eight dependent institutes in Hokkaido, Japan. The present results clarified the clinical disparities of IBD treatment and hospital function between IBD flagship hospitals and local care hospitals. Moreover, the understanding level of IBD treatment in medical staff was significantly lower in local care than in IBD flagship hospitals. Furthermore, an abounding experience of IBD treatment affected the understanding level of IBD treatment of both medical doctors and staff. These findings indicate that selecting patients with IBD corresponding to disease activity, educational system for the current IBD treatment, and promotion of team medicine with multimedical staff can resolve clinical discrepancies between IBD flagship and local care hospitals. The IBD treatment inequities in Japan will be eliminated with the development of an appropriate medical cooperation system between IBD flagship and local care hospitals.