Mercy Health announces that Springfield Regional Medical Center has earned national accreditation under the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP®), a joint program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).
Following a rigorous survey, the MBSAQIP accredited Springfield Regional Medical Center as a Comprehensive Center.
MBSAQIP standards ensure that bariatric surgical patients receive a multidisciplinary care and not just a surgical procedure. This approach improves patient outcomes and long-term success rates. Accredited centers offer preoperative and postoperative care designed specifically for severely obese patients.
“Patients in the greater Springfield area who are seeking surgical treatment for severe obesity and its related conditions have a high-quality choice for receiving treatment,” said Matt Caldwell, Mercy Health – Springfield President. “Mercy Health’s nationally accredited program meets the highest standards for patient safety and quality of care. Our commitment to quality care begins with appropriately trained staff and the leadership of surgeons who seek continuous improvement to enhance the structure, process and outcomes of the center.”
To earn the MBSAQIP designation, Springfield Regional Medical Center and its Weight Management Solutions program met essential criteria for staffing, training and facility infrastructure in addition to protocols for care, ensuring its ability to support patients with severe obesity. The center also participates in a national data registry that yields semiannual reports on the quality of its processes and outcomes, identifying opportunities for continuous quality improvement. The standards are specified in the MBSAQIP Resources for Optimal Care of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Patient 2016, published by the ACS and ASMBS.
After submitting an application, centers seeking MBSAQIP Accreditation undergo an extensive site visit by an experienced bariatric surgeon, who reviews the center’s structure, process and clinical outcomes data. Centers are awarded a specific designation depending on how many patients it serves annually, the type of procedures it provides and whether it provides care for patients under age 18.
According to the National Institutes of Health, around 15.5 million people in the United States 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. Metabolic and bariatric surgical procedures have proven to be effective in the reduction of comorbid conditions related to severe obesity*. Working with ASMBS, the ACS expanded this quality program for bariatric surgery centers so that it can assist bariatric patients in identifying those centers that provide optimal surgical care.