Weight-Loss Surgery Results No Better at 'Best' Hospitals

[Scubagecko]

Here is an article for the Americans here. Apparently a study was done comparing the so-called "Center of Excellence" compared to other hospitals and clinics and found very little difference in outcomes and complications. Hopefully this will open up the market for those that decide to stay in the US for your surgery.

Weight-Loss Surgery Results No Better at 'Best' Hospitals

[Truffles]

Interesting.

[Bilby]

Thanks for sharing.

[Frankie Shore]

I felt really good at the hospital where I had my surgery (Keck Medical Center of USC) as they are clean freaks! They go above and beyond to keep things clean, neat and orderly. They scrub the entire room down between patients, which I'd never seen before at any hospital.

The designation "Center of Excellence" certainly can't hurt any.

Frankie

[christine53]

Always be glad I picked Mexico. I can't believe I would of got better care in the states, plus the cost is plain stupid. People that say they wouldn't go to Mexico because it's not safe must of not ever been to a big city in the states.

[Think]

There is a HUGE range of standards within medical care. A lot of it lies in hand washing. That is the SINGLE best prevention out there.

Only takes a second to ask someone to perform hand hygiene (washing or effective hand rub solutions.) It certainly can save your life.

[realestwoman71]

I can't tell what I'm feeling with my soft diet I don't know if I'm full or my stomach just sore

[toutdesuite]

I thank God for my surgeon, Dr. Rosenthal. I have my life back!

[zmdh39]

Ok, this I LOVE...and here is why...I know that many people might disagree, try to argue, be offended, etc. etc....BUT this is something that I wrote about that I feel everyone should really consider. Not to mention there is a list of many other things that I have written about that people should read as well, but or not I will stick to the subject of "Center of Excellence."

Ok, so a little bit about me, in my early life I decided that I wanted to become a homicide detective, everything I did in life was gear to prep me for this career aspiration. I went to college, I did specialized training, internships...the whole nine yards. Then life intervened and my path was forced to change. From that point on I developed into a career in technology and internet marketing. I have spent years in this field and we work with some of the best technological minds in the industry. Any who, the skill sets that I developed through my career and experience was of an extraordinary benefit when it came to researching my own surgery. Needless to say, I am amazed...even though I knew these concepts exists, of how much BS and misleading marketing techniques are employed everyday when it comes to wls. So, in addition to understanding the technology, marketing, business deals, and the structures behind them, I also (due to the whole detective thing) have severe OCD tendency when it comes to research.

Ok, here is the concept...lets face it marketing works, but marketing alone will only get you so far...so in addition to marketing you need validity...you need someone else, or another authority figure (real or not) to agree that you are "Special," "Advanced," "Certified," or yes, even "EXCELLENT!" So when most people see flashy emblems, symbols, rating seals (basically, the adult world equivalent to the gold star we all used to get on out kindergarten homework coloring sheets...regardless of how bad our coloring skills actually were ) they falsely assume that those "flashy gold stars" actually mean something, are a real authority source, or MUST mean that the person that is being endorsed must, somehow be better than all the rest!

[Insert very misleading/wrong assumption buzzer here] Sure, there are "some"...and when I say some, I actually mean, there are very, very, very few, real life, legitimate, certification or endorsement Organizations, Boards, or Associations...that actually have high standards, and hold a real weight when deciding to put their seal of approval on something or someone.

WHAT?!?!?! You mean that there are companies out there that have extremely low standards of requirements for their endorsements, and they are only set up and money making gambits, by a select few people smart enough to realized will pay cash for complete BS, so long as it looks good to the unknowing general public???

YEP...that is exactly what I am saying, and something that EVERYONE researching wls should keep in mind. If you see an Accreditation, Center of Excellence, and ESPECIALLY anything that's implying USA endorsement...please read the fine print...you might rethink the importance of that endorsement or association when you do.

Have you ever been on a surgeon or hospital's website and seen those highly emphasized stamps of approval by this or that SUPER important sounding associations, organizations, or particular establishment? Man, oh man, THESE guys are my favorite. Back when I was researching my surgery, I came across a post from a person that was blatantly bashing everyone who didn't go to her surgeon, and then made a rather snarky comment on how she "Would NEVER use a surgeon that that was not yada yada yada certified" Ok, ***big spoiler alert*** yes, there are a number of agencies out there that provide international endorsements, special certifications, seals of approval and all that jazz...

However, a good portion of those are pretty much set up to do nothing more than look good, and sound impressive. If you actually research those companies a lot of times you will find that they require very little experience, some cash, and maybe a letter of recommendation (which they may, or may not acutally verify).

The particular one that was referred to in the member's post that I mentioned only required a surgeon to have done 25 bariatric surgeries in a 2 year time frame, pay a little over 300 bucks, and send in a letter of recommendation...that was it. Sorry, but in my opinion only requiring 25 surgeries in a 2 year time frame seems a little low for such a prestigious organization, for an endorsement that undoubtedly is an influencing factor in the average wls researcher, that doesn't know any better when they are making their WLS decisions.

These types of companies are essentially what we refer to in my industry as an "impressive hustle". I cannot stress enough how important it is to really analyze every aspect of of the research process, when you do, you will have a great advantage to weed through all the meaningless pomp and circumstance of the industry and be more able to base your decision on factual, meaningful considerations. Now, to be fair, there are some of these companies that do have high standards that must be met to gain membership, their are legit endorsements out there, just make sure that if those things matter to you, that you look into them so that you can separate the valid from the utterly useless.

Now, something very similar those fluff endorsements and that is websites that rank hospitals and surgeons. Here is another tricky aspect. For about 12 bucks, my 3 year old could purchase a domain, set up a website that sounds official (Like USAFABBS, or the United States Associasion of False Accreditation Bull S***) and assign very bias rankings to any establishment that is in direct competition to his business. Catch my drift?

They are cheap, they are easy, and they are effective at deceiving those who don't know any better, and thus can be very profitable. I know I know...how do you tell the real from the not real? There are a few ways, but you have to know what to look for, and even then, it can be a craps shoot. You can start by looking for things like reviews posted by users...if a site has a ranking, but you can't tell how that ranking came to be, proceed with skepticism. My best advice there is find as many people as you can that had surgery with that surgeon, or at that hospital, both patients that were there a while back, and people who were there last week. Look for pictures, talk to patients, and use your own judgement, just make sure you get as much info as you can, from as many different sources as possible. A wide scope will give you a much better view of the whole picture.

[toutdesuite]

I admit, I did look for a Center of Excellence, but more importantly I looked at the surgeon's reputation. He is world renowned and has an excellent sleeve track record.