Surgical Review Corporation's Research Division is working on answers to questions regarding bariatric surgical care by:

• Collecting, tracking, and measuring data on bariatric patients across the United States, as well as countries throughout the world.
  
  
• Developing clinical practice guidelines
  
  
• Conducting clinical research
  
  
• Conducting clinical trials

Research proposals may originate from within SRC or from outside sources. SRC's Research Advisory Committee is establishing specific protocols for research proposals, data requests and publications. These protocols and templates will be accessible on SRC's Web site soon.

The initial focus of research efforts will be on the use of data as a tool for innovation in improving safety and efficacy of bariatric surgery. These efforts will be aided by the deployment of SRC's Bariatric Outcomes Longitudinal Database™, known as BOLD™. BOLD™ is a user-friendly, patient outcomes database system designed and developed by SRC that not only helps Centers and surgeons comply with the requirements of the Bariatric Surgery Centers of Excellence® (BSCOE) program, but establishes a framework for stratifying risk factors and establishes a platform to perform basic research.