In recent years, we have seen an increase in weight loss surgeries. As more and more people who want to get these types of surgeries, they need to do research and weight the risks of the surgeries themselves with the gains that they will receive from losing weight. Bariatric surgeries, which is also known as stomach stapling, have a slew of complications such as a collapsed lung, internal bleeding, and in some cases, even death. Because of the severe risks with these types of surgeries, people seriously looking into getting a weight loss surgery would likely want to know which hospitals are ranked the highest for positive outcomes.
HealthGrades is an independent company which rates health care and has rated 468 different hospitals out of 19 states in the country. One hundred of the hospitals received ratings of one star and were thought to be the worst and are considered poor performers. Out of the remaining hospitals, 107 received five star ratings and were ranked as excellent. The remaining 261 hospitals received 3 star ratings and were simply considered to be average performers. Hospitals with an inbound marketing strategy are more likely to receive higher rates and positive feedback from clients and patients.
The most important factor for rating hospitals best for weight loss surgeries is how many surgeries had been performed at each hospital. Frequency of these types of surgeries would help patients decide which hospital they would like their surgery performed at. Statistically, hospitals that were found to perform at least 375 weight loss surgeries annually have the best record for safety and the least amount of complications. Hospitals that performed only 75 weight loss surgeries annually had a much higher rate of complications. This type of report gives people interested more objective information to base their decision on instead of simply relying on convenience of location and word of mouth.
The hospitals that received a five star rating were 70% less likely to have major complications and shorter stays at the hospital after surgery. Those with a five star rating also were shown to have lower bills for patients. Those who used a five star hospital saved an average of $6,692 when compared to the bills patients received from the one star rated hospitals.
Hospitals that received the five star rating include New York’s Saint Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, Los Angeles’ Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, Boston’s Lowell General Hospital, San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center, Houston’s Bayshore Medical Center, and Philadelphia’s Albert Einstein Medical Center.
Those with a one star rating included Dallas’ Baylor University Medical Center, Staten Island University, University of California, Irvine, New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, and Los Angeles’ Temple Community Hospital.
In some cases, weight loss surgeries are recommended by doctors for those who are obese and are experiencing debilitating complications because of their weight. High blood pressure is the most common complication along with abnormal cholesterol levels, heart issues, Type 2 Diabetes, and in severe cases, immobility. Weight loss surgeries in those cases are able to restrict the patient in eating too much food by limiting how much the stomach can hold before it is full which therefore limits the number of calories that are consumed. Regardless of the reason behind getting this type of surgery, people need to take time to think about the risks involved.
On the bright side, the average rate of complications among the hospitals involved in the study was rather low and ranged from .05 percent in terms of deaths and .83 percent for hemorrhaging.
