1. Gastroenterologists should routinely assess health-related quality of life (QOL), symptom-specific anxieties, early life adversity, and functional impairment related to a patient’s digestive symptoms.
2. Gastroenterologists should master patient-friendly language on the following topics: the brain-gut pathway and how this pathway can become dysregulated by any number of factors; the psychosocial risk, perpetuating, and maintaining factors of GI diseases; and why the gastroenterologist is referring a patient to a mental health provider.
3. Gastroenterologists should know the structure and core features of the most effective brain-gut psychotherapies.
4. Gastroenterologists should establish a direct referral and ongoing communication pathway with 1-2 qualified mental health providers and assure patients that he or she will remain part of their care team.
5. Gastroenterologists should familiarize themselves with 1 or 2 neuromodulators that can be used to augment behavioral therapies when necessary.
