Managing Your Obese Patient’s Care

Although the surgeon who performs your patient’s LAP-BAND^® System surgery will be responsible for the surgical aftercare (ie, band adjustments), you will still need to provide ongoing medical care, especially if your referral was necessitated by one or more comorbidities.

The treatment of a severely obese patient is a two-step process requiring¹⁴:

• Assessment
• determination of the degree of obesity and the absolute risk status
• Management
• reduction of excess weight and maintenance of this lower body weight, as well
  as the institution of additional measures to control any associated risk factors

There are two excellent resources available to help physicians manage their obese patient’s care:

• Obesity On-line
• North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO, The Obesity Society)
• Registration required (free)
• CME credits available

Once the LAP-BAND^® System becomes part of your overall obesity treatment plan, consider offering the following services:

• Patient Education Seminars
• Obesity Management Team
• Patient Support Groups

If you are referring your patients to a surgeon who is part of a designated BSCOE, these elements may already be in place.