In 2011 the three major Italian gastroenterological scientific societies (AIGO, the Italian Society of Hospital Gastroenterologists and Endoscopists; SIED, the Italian Society of Endoscopy; SIGE, the Italian Society of Gastroenterology) prepared their official document aimed at analysing medical care for digestive diseases in Italy, on the basis of national and regional data (Health Ministry and Lombardia, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna databases) and to make proposals for planning of care. Digestive diseases were the first or second cause of hospitalizations in Italy in 1999-2009, with more than 1,500,000 admissions/year; however only 5-9% of these admissions was in specialized Gastroenterology units. Reported data show a better outcome in Gastroenterology Units than in non-specialized units: shorter average length of stay, in particular for admissions with ICD-9-CM codes proxying for emergency conditions (6.7 days versus 8.4 days); better case mix (higher average diagnosis-related groups weight in Gastroenterology Units: 1 vs 0.97 in Internal Medicine units and 0.76 in Surgery units); lower inappropriateness of admissions (16-25% versus 29-87%); lower in-hospital mortality in urgent admissions (2.2% versus 5.1%); for patients with urgent admissions due to gastrointestinnal haemorrhage, in-hospital mortality was 2.3% in Gastroenterology units versus 4.0% in others. The present document summarizes the scientific societies' official report, which constitutes the "White paper of Italian Gastroenterology". © 2014 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l.