Western Reserve Hospital Physicians, Inc. Bariatrics has been designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Bariatric Surgery as part of Anthem’s Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.
The bariatric surgery team of Walter J. Chlysta, MD, FACS, FASMBS, and Tonya Thomas, MSN, CNP, CBN, serve patients at Western Reserve Hospital located at 1900 23rd Street, Suite 403 in Cuyahoga Falls.
Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated healthcare facilities demonstrating expertise in delivering improved patient safety and health outcomes, based on objective measures established by the medical community.
Recognition as a Blue Distinction Center for Bariatric Surgery requires a healthcare facility to be nationally accredited at facility and bariatric program-specific levels in addition to proving success in meeting patient safety measures and bariatric-specific quality measures, including complication and readmission rate for laparoscopic procedures in sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass and duodenal switch.
They also received national accreditation from the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP®), a program created by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) in collaboration with the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).
The accreditation ensures that bariatric surgical patients at Western Reserve Hospital receive a multidisciplinary program, not just a surgical procedure, to improve patient outcomes and long-term success. Accredited centers offer preoperative and postoperative care designed specifically for their severely obese patients.
To earn the MBSAQIP designation, Western Reserve Hospital met necessary criteria for facility infrastructure, protocols for care, training and staffing, ensuring its ability to support patients with severe obesity. The hospital 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 2019, published by the ACS and ASMBS.
In the United States, around 15.5 million people suffer from severe obesity, which 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.
For more information or to book an appointment, contact Western Reserve Hospital Physicians, Inc. Bariatric Surgery by calling (330) 926-3443.