MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The WVU Medicine Medical and Surgical Weight Loss Center at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital has been accredited as Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP®) Accreditation Center - Comprehensive Center with Obesity Medicine Qualifications by the joint Quality Program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).
The MBSAQIP Standards, “Optimal Resources for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery,” which are published by the ACS and ASMBS, ensure that metabolic and bariatric patients receive multidisciplinary medical care, which improves patient outcomes and long-term success. This accreditation was awarded in addition to the Center’s MBSAQIP surgical accreditation and designation as a Comprehensive Center. WVU Medicine is the first center in West Virginia to receive the advanced designation in obesity medicine.
“This accreditation is a demonstration of our ongoing dedication to providing the best possible, state-of-the-art care to our patients,” Laura Davisson, M.D., WVU Medicine Obesity Medicine director, said. “We are dedicated to caring for the whole patient, not just their obesity. We understand that there are many factors that lead our patients to need our services, and there is never a simple fix. Patients have the best outcomes when they work with a team. This new designation highlights the addition of obesity medicine services to the high quality bariatric surgery care offered by WVU Medicine. Our team integrates with the bariatric surgery program to offer all services, spanning medical and surgical treatment options.”
To earn MBSAQIP accreditation, Ruby Memorial Hospital met essential criteria for staffing, training, facility infrastructure, and patient care pathways, ensuring its ability to support patients with obesity. The program is tasked with continuous review of data as it continues improving the structure and outcomes expertise necessary to provide safe, efficacious, and high-quality care to all metabolic and bariatric patients.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates about 93 million adults in the United States are affected by obesity and that number continues to increase. The disease of 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, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, among other health risks. Working together, the ACS and the ASMBS have developed the MBSAQIP accreditation standards to assist patients with obesity in identifying centers that provide optimal patient care. After applying for the accreditation, centers undergo an extensive site visit for review of the center’s structure, processes, and clinical outcomes data.