HealthGrades Rates Hospital-Based Bariatric Programs

On Tuesday, HealthGrades released a report rating hospital-based bariatric programs. After studying 193,518 bariatric surgery records from 468 hospitals across 19 states between 2007 and 2009, HealthGrades assigned facilities one, three or five stars based on whether their risk-adjusted complication rates were "poor," "as expected" or "best". Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Los Angeles and California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco were among the hospitals that received a five-star rating, while UC-Irvine and Temple Community Hospital in Los Angeles received a one-star rating. The report found that bariatric surgery patients receiving care at the nation's top-performing hospitals have a nearly 70% lower risk of in-hospital complications than those treated at low-performing facilities.

"Group Issues Ratings of Hospital-Based Bariatric Weight-Loss Programs" (Evans, Contra Costa Times, 6/21).
"Worst and Best Hospitals for Weight Loss Surgery Named by HealthGrades" (Moisse, ABC News, 6/21).

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