The search for quality in bariatric and metabolic surgery was one of the main themes discussed during the XXI Brazilian Congress of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, in São Paulo.
The Brazilian Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery (SBCBM) acted directly as a developer in the IFSO-LAC Certification and Accreditation Program, which is already being replicated by Latin American entities linked to the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO).
The main goal of this initiative is to share information and improve the treatment standards of countries.
The purpose of Certification and Accreditation programs are to raise service quality standards; recognize professionals and institutions; standardize behaviors that positively boost the clinical outcome, bringing safety and effective results to patients, while providing greater legal security for the professionals who have been certified. These safeguards can reduce costs to health providers and guarantee a better financial return for those who demonstrate their effective quality of work.
The SBCBM Certification and Accreditation process is carried out by World Medical Accreditation (WMA), under the coordination of SBCBM, which is responsible for storing and database analysis of medical professionals and hospitals. In Brazil, health care facilities in Bahia, Paraíba, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, São Paulo, among others, have already gone through the Accreditation program.
“Going through Accreditation attests that all processes, quality parameters and solutions are in accordance with the requirements, helping to streamline processes, improving the quality of care and building an important trust with patients and the community”, reinforces the president of SBCBM, Fábio Viegas.
New certifications – The IFSO-LAC and SBCBM Certification and Accreditation Program had a dedicated booth for professionals to ask questions about all the treatment processes to obtain qualification. During these year’s Congress, 25 new surgeons were certified.
According to Silvia Azeituno, commercial representative of World Medical Accreditation (WMA), the operational arm of SBCBM in these processes, certification and accreditation aims to standardize behaviors that will influence positively to the clinical outcome. “It’s a way to increase overall safety for patients, at the same time that it provides greater legal certainty for the professional who has been audited and certified for the specialty”, she adds.
The executive president of SBCBM, Dr. Luiz Vicente Berti, says the program will also positively influence patient choice and boost the evolution of medical care, improving performance and results with lower cost worldwide.
“We can show once again that bariatric and metabolic surgery not only brings countless benefits to the health and quality of life of these patients, but mainly, that the procedure lowers the long-term costs for the public and private health system”, Berti explains
Felipe Koleski, the first certified surgeon in Brazil, also said that a certification offers more safety to the patient and the specialist. “We show our patients that we are doing the best in Bariatric Surgery techniques. The evaluation of the entire process, from pre to post surgery care, shows the patient that you will always do everything in your reach to guarantee the best possible result”.
Surgeons, multidisciplinary team professionals and hospitals can join the current ongoing certification and accreditation processes by going on the Brazilian Society of Metabolic Surgery or the WMA websites, filling out the forms and sending the necessary documents, as described in the step-by-step instructions on these platforms.