The Bariatric Medicine Program at Saint Vincent Hospital in association with Fallon Clinic has been accredited by the American College of Surgeons, an organization dedicated to improving and safeguarding the care of surgical patients.
Fallon Clinic’s Bariatric Medicine Program is made up of a team of dedicated healthcare providers focused on helping patients who are significantly overweight. The program combines the most recent knowledge and techniques in nutrition, medicine, psychology, and surgery to achieve weight loss and improve health. Treatment is centered on making permanent eating and behavior changes in addition to surgical solutions.
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, among other health risks. At the present time, weight-loss surgery provides the only effective, lasting relief from severe obesity. Therefore, the ACS believes it is of utmost importance to extend its quality initiatives to accrediting bariatric surgery centers so that it can assist the public in identifying those facilities that provide optimal surgical care for patients who undergo this surgical procedure.
Saint Vincent Hospital has been accredited as a Level 2B facility by the Bariatric Surgery Center Network (BSCN) Accreditation Program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). This designation means that Saint Vincent Hospital has met the essential criteria that ensure it is fully capable of supporting a bariatric surgery care program and that its institutional performance meets the requirements outlined by the ACS BSCN Accreditation Program.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recognized Saint Vincent Hospital 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 of Bariatric Surgery.