by Julie M. Janeway, BBA, MSA, JD

Julie M. Janeway, BBA, MSA, JD, is from Little Victories™ Medical/Legal Consulting & Training in Onondaga, Michigan.

Introduction

If you are working as a healthcare provider in the US, chances are exceptionally high that you will at some point be called as a witness or a defendant in a medical malpractice, worker’s compensation, insurance, or other type of lawsuit. As lawyers, we tell our physicians, physician assistants (PA), and often our nursing clients as well: “It is not IF you get sued during your career, it is WHEN you get sued.” Given the litigiousness and blame-based nature of our society, many of you will be called upon to provide your testimony about a given set of facts at a deposition. Yet many healthcare providers are not even truly cognizant of what a deposition is, why they are needed, and their degree of importance in the litigation process.

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by Jacqueline Jacques, ND

Dr. Jacques is a naturopathic doctor with more than a decade of expertise in medical nutrition and serves as Chief Science Officer for Catalina Lifesciences LLC, in Irvine, California.

Introduction

Protein is like a mantra for most patients who have undergone weight loss surgery. Eat protein first. Eat more protein. Use protein powder. Take protein with every meal. Yet as much as it is emphasized and discussed, there are many questions that are asked by clinicians and patients alike. Questions about protein digestion, quantity, and quality, as well as ways to optimize protein intake, are very common and are important to understand in relation to postoperative nutrition.

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by Dave Fouts

Dave Fouts is the corporate chef for Western Bariatric Institute (www.westernbariatricinstitute.com) and Imetobolic. You can visit www.chefdave.org for free recipes, grocery shopping planning lists, weekly meal planners, and more.

Introduction

“Eating out saves time and works well within my schedule.” I challenge this statement all the time; however, there are pros and cons to eating out. If a patient thinks that driving to the restaurant, waiting to order, waiting for your food to be served, then waiting to pay saves you time, not to mention the drive back, I’m not convinced. Aside from the time factor, when dining out, most restaurants are not taking the needs of your patients into consideration. Most foods are high in calories and portion sizes can be overwhelming. I’m not totally certain that all restaurants who claim to have light or low calorie dishes are being truthful. This can cause your patients to hit plateaus and even gain weight. However, the pro to eating out is that it can be a time saver if you have a place that has quick, healthy, already prepared foods, such as a Whole Foods Market or a Boston Market. These foods are made to meet the needs of the health conscious and are normally prepared in a way that gets the customer in and out in less than five minutes. The key is keeping one’s hands out of the food until he or she gets home. Also, the food that is already prepared costs less than going to a restaurant in most cases, but is still priced high for the convenience.

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by Jaime Ponce, MD, FACS

Dr. Ponce is Director for Bariatric Surgery, Dalton Surgical Group, PC, Hamilton Medical Center, Dalton, Georgia.

Introduction

One of the key features of the laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB) procedure is its adjustability.[1,2] The success of this procedure is directly dependent upon the optimal use of this capability. An adjustment (also known as a “fill” or “unfill”) is the injection or aspiration of saline fluid from the inner balloon through a subcutaneous access port connected to the gastric band. Read the rest of this article »

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TELL US ABOUT THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LEAD STAFF AT YOUR FACILITY.

The lead staff at Citizens Bariatric Center consists of two full-time bariatric surgeons and a nurse coordinator. There are many departments with individual directors, all of whom are members of a multidisciplinary team that meets on a monthly basis. These include psychotherapy, dietary, exercise, OR, ICU, ER, continuing education, quality management, and marketing.

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by Harry Pino, PhD and Alexis Smith, MS

From the Obesity Consult Center, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts

“To understand the obese child, one needs to remember that he accumulated his extra weight while living in a family that, wittingly or unwittingly, encouraged overeating and inactivity.”[1]

INTRODUCTION

By simply taking a look at children playing in a schoolyard, it can be clearly seen that the obesity epidemic has now reached our most vulnerable population, our children, who are our future. There is much debate as to the most contributable cause of this epidemic, but researchers are now coming to some sort of consensus by slowly accepting the idea that obesity is a multifactorial problem.

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