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UCSF Bariatric Surgery Named Blue Cross 'Center of Expertise'

July 20, 2005
News Office: Vanessa deGier (415) 476-2557

The Bariatric Surgery Center at UCSF Medical Center has been named a "Center of Expertise" by Blue Cross of California to recognize programs offering the highest quality of care in weight-loss surgery. The UCSF center, the only San Francisco program to be named, is one of four programs in Northern California to receive this designation.

Dr. Andrew Posselt, a bariatric and transplant surgeon at UCSF Medical Center, said, "Bariatric surgery is the most effective means to treat morbid obesity but there are risks. We are committed to working with our patients and providing them with comprehensive medical treatment to ensure they receive quality care before and after their surgery."

Hospitals that submitted data to Blue Cross were evaluated against industry norms associated with higher quality of care. Criteria used included patient volume, mortality, readmission and complication rates, and care management processes.

Blue Cross said that by identifying centers of expertise, it is providing its members information about where better health care outcomes are being achieved.

Based on guidelines of the National Institutes of Health, as many as 16 million people nationwide may qualify for bariatric surgery. In California alone, bariatric surgery procedures increased 40 percent between 2002 and 2003. More information on bariatric surgery at UCSF Medical Center is available at www.ucsfhealth.org/bariatric.