8 weekly 1-hr telemedicine visits with a licensed Ph.D. psychologist from the University of Pennsylvania (permissible to practice across state lines under PSYPACT), plus usual care and referral to an IBD Help Center (email, phone, online chat with IBD information specialist)

Change in the IBD Disability is estimated by the 14-item validated IBD Disability Index (IBD-DI) in the intervention group (telemedicine-delivered psychosocial care) vs control group (usual care) in patients with moderate-to-severe baseline IBD-related disability pre and post intervention (week 0 and week 8). Total score ranges from 0-100, interpreted as 0-20 (no disability), 20-35 (mild disability), 35-50 (moderate disability), and 50-100 (severe disability).

The cost-benefits of tele-CBT are estimated by 5-item validated Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)-certified FAIR Health database questionnaire titled the Treatment Inventory of Costs in Patients (TIC-P). The minimum value is $0, with no maximum value. Higher costs indicate worse outcome. In order to calculate the costs of productivity losses, the healthcare utilization encounter are multiplied by the cost price per unit. The cost of unpaid productivity loss is calculated by multiplying the productivity losses by a standard hourly rate for household care.