Bariatric Surgery Center Earns Reaccreditation
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
William O'Malley, M.D., meets with bariatric patient.
The Bariatric Surgery Center at Highland Hospital has achieved Level 1 Accreditation by the Bariatric Surgery Center Network (BSCN) Accreditation Program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). This designation means that Highland meets the high standards outlined by the ACS BSCN Accreditation Program and demonstrates a commitment to providing the highest quality care for its bariatric surgery patients. This is the third straight time Highland has earned this designation.
Accredited bariatric surgery centers provide the support and resources necessary for morbidly obese patients to achieve successful, long-lasting weight loss. These centers address the entire spectrum of care and needs of bariatric patients, from the pre-surgical phase through the postoperative care and treatment process.
Earlier this month, Highland underwent a voluntary onsite visit in which a surveyor reviewed the bariatric surgery center’s structure, process and quality of data. 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. Highland performs between 600 and 700 bariatric surgery cases annually – one of the highest volumes in New York state.
Highland achieved this three-year accreditation for the first time in 2006. The designation was established by the American College of Surgeons in 2005 in an effort to extend established quality improvement practices to all disciplines of surgical care.
In the United States, more than 11 million people suffer from severe obesity, and the numbers continue to increase. Obesity increases the risks of morbidity and mortality because of the diseases and conditions that are commonly associated with it, such as type II diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. At the present time, weight-loss surgery provides the only effective, lasting relief from severe obesity.