There is no question that obesity has become a global crisis and epidemic. Obesity population percentage statistics have reached double digits in countries around the world — without regard to race and socioeconomic status. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are 300 million obese (BMI over 30) people worldwide.

Bariatric surgery is a proven effective therapy for morbid obesity, but is a complex and challenging undertaking.

The Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) established its International Centers of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery (ICE) program to ensure that patients receive bariatric surgery care worldwide with the highest levels of efficacy, efficiency and safety and that the requirements for excellence are not compromised, but standardized to facilitate optimal outcomes. The ICE program provides detailed parameters on quality standards, benchmarks on best practices, and compliance norms. SRC welcomes the opportunity to work with the individual bariatric societies in the international bariatric community to establish ICE programs that meet quality standards, and benchmarks on best practices, but also considers the cultural norms of standard medical practice for the applicant country.

The goals and objectives of SRC’s International Centers of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery program (ICE) are:

• Building a consensus and ensuring consistency of bariatric surgery COE standards worldwide
• Developing solutions for health care coverage of bariatric surgery globally
• Addressing issues with consumer confidence and concerns
• Providing ongoing education to health care providers, consumers and employers
• Creating an international platform for clinical trials, data analysis, research and risk-stratification efforts leading to the improvement of procedures, clinical pathways and ICE criteria (evidence-based medicine) through the use of the most comprehensive database for bariatric surgery in the world.

All ICE designees with Full Approval will enter data into the SRC Bariatric Outcomes Longitudinal Database™ (BOLD™) — a user-friendly, Internet-based patient outcomes tracking database. BOLD is an international platform for evidence-based medicine that supports in-depth statistical analyses with real-time data and tracks complications and adverse events longitudinally in an effort to identify risk factors and develop risk stratification guidelines. The information and data collected will be given back to surgeons to facilitate the development of best practices and bariatric standards of care.

In obtaining the ICE designation, you will join hundreds of bariatric surgery programs that have achieved the International Center of Excellence in Bariatric Surgery designation. Many health insurers and government entities throughout the world demand such accreditations and recommend only accredited hospitals to their clients. The ICE designation can help improve payor coverage for bariatric surgery worldwide.

The objective of the SRC International Centers of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery program is not to limit bariatric surgery to a few, well-known centers. There are far too many patients in need for such an approach. SRC seeks to make its ICE program the Gold Standard worldwide.

For more information, please contact Alejandra Dunn at +1.919.792.3770, Monday - Friday from 8:30 am - 5:30 pm Eastern time or via email at .