Committee News
Clinical Issues Committee (CIC) has developed a subcommittee, under the leadership of the committee co-chair, to oversee the process of review and revision of existing statements and guidelines. This process will be ordered as follows: Existing statements/guidelines will be reviewed once every two years. A schedule of review will be established by the CIC Co-Chair. Statements may be reviewed at any time, outside of their assigned time frame, based on need, release of a new landmark study, changes in policy, etc. Charge to revise statement could come from the EC, or this subcommittee could develop a proposal to submit to...
Dr. Lloyd Stegemann, Chairman of the State Chapter Committee, held a series of conference calls during the month of December with surgeons interested in forming an ASMBS State Chapter in their state. Participation from ASMBS members was excellent and several states are now in the planning stages for starting a state chapter. If you were unable to make the call but would like to participate in helping form a state chapter in your state, please send an e-mail to the committee liaison nooriel@asmbs.org or myself lhstegemann@yahoo.com. We will make sure your name is passed along to the appropriate people in your state that have begun the organization...
The ASMBS and the Patient Safety Committee would like to announce the adoption of a Policy Statement on the Qualifications of Expert Witnesses in Bariatric Surgery Medical-Legal Matters. With this policy statement, the ASMBS has taken the lead among surgical societies in guiding defense and plaintiff attorneys in the appropriate selection of expert witnesses. The ASMBS is truly a society made of its members and we would like to thank the members for providing feedback regarding the previously distributed draft statement. All comments were read and carefully considered. Some suggestions could not be implemented due to legal or practical constraints. Others were taken to heart and significant changes...
The NYS Chapter of the ASMBS held our 3rd meeting as a Chapter at the Westchester Medical Center on 11/11/11. Response from surgeons in NY has progressively increased and this year offering CME’s as well as CEU’s, and the addition of an Integrated Health Program, greatly enhanced attendance. The Chapter and the Fall Meetings concentrate on essential issues that affect surgeons in our region by combining surgeons, administrators, executives, integrated health, government officials and representatives of insurers in a forum that discusses and challenges issues that limit access to care. Key initiatives for the Chapter have been challenging pre‐op dietary requirements; Milliman Guidelines that suggested ambulatory...
With the New Year comes the implementation of the CPT codes that were published in October of 2011. Tina Napora, our expert coding advisor, has reviewed the codes and sends the following note: There are relatively few changes to the Digestive System for bariatric surgery (Digestive Section of the CPT 2012) several parenthetical notes have been added to clarify code selection. For instance, a note added to the Stomach: Laparoscopy codes (43644‐43659) instructs, “For laparoscopic implantation, revision or removal of gastric neurostimulator electrodes, lesser curvature [morbid obesity], use 43659.” Liver biopsy (47000) now includes moderate sedation, when provided. (not sure how many surgeons use this code for liver biopsy)...
Recent evidence, including data from the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI), has shown that the number of tertiary care centers in the United States offering multidisciplinary assessment and treatment strategies designed to combat severe obesity in the childhood population, including bariatric surgery, has risen steadily over the past decade. In response to the mounting body of evidence demonstrating the link between severe childhood obesity and the increased risk of development and progression of multiple associated comorbidities, as well as to the data demonstrating the amelioration of many comorbid disease states following surgically‐induced weight loss, the ASMBS Pediatric Committee has been granted approval from the...
Dr. Blackstone met with the Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) in late March 2011. At that meeting it was decided that the responsibility for management of the data would be transferred to the ASMBS under the leadership of the Research Committee. This transfer is now complete. This is the organizational document regarding this transfer, led by Ranjan Sudan, MD, and Debbie Winegar, PhD....
Health Care Services Corporation (HCSC), the parent company of BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) of Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico has eliminated the mandatory six month weight loss requirement prior to bariatric surgery. Multiple meetings and correspondence between ASMBS members and Medical Policy representatives of HCSC resulted in this improved access to care for patients suffering from obesity. Access to care became more onerous when HCSC increased the preoperative requirement from three to six months on March 15, 2011. That led to a meeting between the officers of the Illinois State Chapter of ASMBS, Drs. Christopher Joyce and Rami Lutfi, and...
June 17 – 22, 2012 | San Diego, CA
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SOARD
The official journal of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
