A male jogger takes steps to live a healthy lifestyle after undergoing weight-loss surgery.

Qualifications and benefits of weight loss procedures

Fifteen million Americans have been diagnosed with morbid obesity, and many are candidates for bariatric surgery. Morbid obesity can be defined as being 100 pounds above ideal body weight or having a Body Mass Index (BMI) that is over 40. With obesity comes an increased risk of developing these conditions and others, plus a high risk of premature death. Therefore, please take the possibility of medical weight loss seriously—it could save your life.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides the following bariatric surgery guidelines:

Previous attempts at weight loss have not been successful
No medical or psychological conditions exist that would make surgery too risky
Patient is motivated and willing to undergo surgery and a complete change in lifestyle
AND
BMI (body mass index) is 40 or above
OR
BMI is 35 or above with the presence of diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, hyperlipidemia, or other serious complications of obesity.

If this describes you, one of several bariatric surgery options may be right for you. Even if you don't qualify for bariatric surgery, you may qualify for a non-surgical weight loss procedure.

What health conditions are associated with morbid obesity?

Bariatric surgery could be your way back to living life as you choose. The restrictions obesity places on you are frustrating, limiting, and often leave you out of the things other people are doing. If you’re ready to stop letting obesity control your life, let us help you make an informed decision about bariatric surgery. Isn’t it time?

Life-changing benefits of bariatric surgery:
Our patients experience a dramatic improvement in their overall quality of life. They’re finally able to do the things they’ve been unable to do for so many years. And if that isn’t enough, bariatric surgery can also help patients achieve:

Longer life expectancy
Reduction or elimination of diabetes issues
Lower cholesterol levels
Reduction or elimination of hypertension
Better sleep
Enhanced mobility and range of movement
Decreased risk of cancer
Increased fertility

Life as you choose is waiting for you. Let’s discuss your life, health, goals, and the bariatric procedure options that are available to you. Get in touch with us today!

Preparing for bariatric surgery

Attend a seminar.
Make a list of all the diets you have tried and bring it with you to your doctor.
Bring any pertinent medical data to your appointment with the surgeon—this would include reports of special tests (echocardiogram, sleep study, etc.) or hospital discharge summaries if you have been in the hospital.
Bring a list of your medications with the dose and schedule.
Stop smoking. Surgical patients who use tobacco products are at a higher surgical risk.

Medical problems, such as serious heart or lung problems, can increase the risk of any bariatric surgery. On the other hand, if they are problems that are related to your weight, they also increase the need for bariatric surgery. Severe medical problems may not dissuade the surgeon from recommending gastric bypass bariatric surgery if it is otherwise appropriate, but those conditions will make a patient's risk higher than average.

Certain basic tests are done prior to bariatric surgery: a Complete Blood Count (CBC), urinalysis, and a chemistry panel, which gives a read-out of about 20 blood chemistry values. Often a glucose tolerance test is done to evaluate for diabetes, which is very common in overweight persons. All patients, except for children, get a chest X-ray and an electrocardiogram. Other tests, such as pulmonary function testing, echocardiogram, sleep studies, GI evaluation, cardiology evaluation, or psychiatric evaluation, may be requested when indicated.

Payment may be denied because there may be a specific exclusion in your policy for obesity bariatric surgery or "treatment of obesity." Insurance payment may also be denied for lack of "medical necessity." A therapy is deemed to be medically necessary when it is needed to treat a serious or life-threatening condition. In the case of morbid obesity, alternative treatments—such as dieting, exercise, behavior modification, and some medications—are considered to be available. Medical necessity denials usually hinge on the insurance company's request for some form of documentation, such as 1 to 5 years of physician-supervised dieting or a psychiatric evaluation, illustrating that you have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight by other methods.

Gather all the information (diet records, medical records, medical tests) your insurance company may require, before your consultation. This can help reduce the time it takes to navigate through your insurance plans process.

After all pre-operative tests have been ordered and results have been received, your surgeon’s office must mail or fax your information to your insurance carrier. Insurance carriers’ time frames vary from 1 to 4 weeks to respond to your surgeon’s request for the bariatric surgery.