Reducing Readmissions after Bariatric Surgery: An Important Focus for the Bariatric Community
A Message from Dr. Raul J. Rosenthal
Raul J. Rosenthal, MD, FACS, FASMBS, Clinical Editor, Bariatric Times; Chief of Staff, Professor of Surgery and Chairman, Department of General Surgery; Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery and The Bariatric and Metabolic Institute; General Surgery Residency Program Director; and Director, Fellowship in MIS and Bariatric Surgery, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, Florida
Dear Friends and Readers:
In this issue of Bariatric Times we present an interview with John Morton, MD, President of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). John has been a phenomenal addition to our Society due to his large expertise in the field of quality, safety, and data collection. Be sure to read his ASMBS presidency interview in this month’s “Ask the Leadership,” where he talks about his background, career, and priorities for the year ahead. Please join me in wishing Dr. Morton best of luck during his presidency.
We also provide an update on the ASMBS Foundation. Connie Stillwell, Executive Director of the ASMBS Foundation, announces the top fundraising Walks from Obesity from 2014 and the 2015 Spring Walks planned. We have also welcomed four new board members. Since its inception, ASMBS Foundation has provided our society with over six million dollars in grants aimed to support research, education, and advocacy. It is imperative that we all support our Foundation so that we can continue to provide our membership with funding to enable important initiatives.
In this month’s “Medical Student Notebook,” edited by Daniel B. Jones, MD, MS, FACS, Gordon Bae reviews the impact of obesity as a chronic inflammatory disease and the interplay of chronic autoimmune effects on the skin. I personally witnessed a case of a patient who had morbid obesity and was suffering with psoriasis.1 The patient underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for morbid obesity and experienced complete remission of symptoms after 30 years of suffering this terrible disease.
Dr. Tsuda reviews for us the well-known but infrequent topic of pancreatogenous hyperinsulinemic hypoglicemia. Treatment modalities range from observation to pancreatectomies. I have seen only two of these patients in my 17 years as a bariatric surgeon, and I was always able to manage them with a joint effort of observation and dietary interventions.
In our monthly column “Checklists in Bariatric Surgery,” we present a guideline for decreasing readmissions after bariatric surgery. This is a very important topic, especially in instances when our reimbursements are bundled and readmissions are deducted from the lump sum we receive. In an effort to lead in healthcare, Stanford University, under direction of Dr. John Morton, has developed a national quality initiative program called DROP, (decreasing readmissions and opportunities provided) that will hopefully help our accredited centers be leaders in this subject.
As always, we thank Dr. Walter Pories for his wonderful cartoon in “Cartoon Corner.”
I look forward to seeing many of you at during the 14th Annual Surgery of the Foregut Symposium in Coral Gables, Florida.
Sincerely,
Raul J. Rosenthal, MD, FACS
References
1. Higa-Sansone G, Szomstein S, Soto F, Brasecsco O, Cohen C, Rosenthal RJ. Psoriasis remission after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for morbid obesity. Obes Surg. 2004;14(8):1132–1134.
Category: Editorial Message, Past Articles
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