Bariatric surgery program achieves national accreditation

The University of Iowa Health Care bariatric surgery program has been accredited as a Comprehensive Center under the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP), a joint program of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

The MBSAQIP standards ensure that bariatric surgery patients receive care from a multidisciplinary team of providers, not just a surgical procedure, which improves patient outcomes and long-term success. MBSAQIP-accredited centers focus on tracking outcomes of patients who undergo bariatric surgery and providing continuous quality improvement processes to make sure patients receive the highest level of care.

“For patients seeking information about medical centers that offer bariatric surgery services, MBSAQIP accreditation is an important distinction,” says Jessica K. Smith, MD, medical director of the bariatric surgery program and clinical associate professor in the UI Department of Surgery. “It is the definitive ‘seal of approval’ in our field, and it tells patients that we meet the highest standards for patient safety and quality.”

To earn the MBSAQIP designation, the UI bariatric surgery program met essential criteria for staffing, training, and facility infrastructure and protocols for care, ensuring its ability to support patients with severe obesity. The UI program also participates in a national data registry that yields semiannual reports on the quality of its processes and outcomes.

Bariatric centers seeking MBSAQIP accreditation undergo an extensive site visit that includes a review the center's structure, process, and clinical outcomes data. Centers are awarded a specific designation depending on how many patients it serves annually, the type of procedures it provides, and whether it provides care for patients under age 18.