ACS BSCN accredits UCSD Bariatric Metabolic Institute as Level 1 facility

The Bariatric Metabolic Institute (BMI) at University of California, San Diego Health System has been accredited as a Level 1 facility by the Bariatric Surgery Center Network (BSCN) Accreditation Program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). This designation means that the institutional performance of UC San Diego BMI meets the rigorous requirements outlined by the ACS BSCN Accreditation Program.

"This accreditation from the American College of Surgeons affirms our mission of providing safe and effective weight loss surgeries for all patients," said Santiago Horgan, MD, director, UC San Diego Bariatric Metabolic Institute and chief of minimally invasive surgery, UC San Diego Health System. "We are dedicated to reversing the obesity epidemic by offering an array of customized surgical procedures that significantly reduce weight and produce less pain and scarring."

Horgan and his team specialize in a multidisciplinary approach to weight loss through both surgical and non-surgical methods. Patients who are eligible for surgery may choose from minimally invasive techniques such as sleeve gastrectomy, sleeve plication, revisional bypass, POSE and gastric banding. Options are also available for adolescents over the age of 14.

In an effort to extend established quality improvement practices to all disciplines of surgical care, the ACS BSCN Accreditation Program provides confirmation that a bariatric surgery center is committed to providing the highest quality care for its bariatric surgery patients. Accredited bariatric surgery centers provide the hospital resources necessary for optimal care of morbidly obese patients, and the necessary support and resources to address the entire spectrum of care from the pre-hospital phase through treatment and post-operative care.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recognized UC San Diego BMI and allows expanded Medicare coverage of bariatric surgery for beneficiaries of all ages who have been diagnosed with other health problems associated with obesity. Medicare coverage has been limited to procedures performed in facilities certified by the American College of Surgeons or the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery.

Each hospital undergoes an on-site verification by experienced bariatric surgeons, who review the center's structure, process, and quality of data using the current ACS Bariatric Surgery Center Network Accreditation Program Manual as a guideline in conducting the survey. Because high-quality surgical care requires documentation using reliable measurements of outcomes, accredited bariatric surgery centers are required to report their bariatric surgery outcomes data either to the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) or the College's BSCN Database, using a Web-based data entry system.

In the United States, more than 11 million people suffer from severe obesity, a disease commonly associated with type II diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Currently, weight-loss surgery provides the only effective, lasting relief from severe obesity.

Source: UC San Diego Bariatric Metabolic Institute