WILMINGTON, Del., April 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Christiana Care Health System's Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence has been accredited as a Level 1 facility by the Bariatric Surgery Center Network (BSCN) Accreditation Program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

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The designation means Christiana Care has met the essential criteria to ensure it is fully capable of supporting a bariatric surgery care program and its institutional performance meets the requirements outlined by the ACS BSCN Accreditation Program.

The ACS BSCN Accreditation Program provides confirmation that a bariatric surgery center has demonstrated its commitment to providing the highest quality care for its bariatric surgery patients. Accredited bariatric surgery centers provide not only the hospital resources necessary for optimal care of morbidly obese patients, but also the support and resources necessary to address the entire spectrum of care and needs of bariatric patients, from the prehospital phase through the postoperative care and treatment process.  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recognized Christiana Care and allows expanded Medicare coverage of bariatric surgery for beneficiaries of all ages diagnosed with other health problems associated with obesity. Medicare coverage has been limited to procedures performed in facilities certified by the ACS or the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery.

There are four categories of accreditation for inpatient facilities (Level 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b) and one level for outpatient surgical care facilities. Each category has specific criteria that must be met by a facility seeking that level of accreditation. Each hospital undergoes an onsite verification by experienced bariatric surgeons who review the center's structure, process, and quality of data using the current ACS Bariatric Surgery Center Network Accreditation Program Manual as a guideline.

Because high-quality surgical care requires documentation using reliable measurements of outcomes, accredited bariatric surgery centers are required to report their bariatric surgery outcomes data either to the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) or the College's BSCN Database.

For more information about Christiana Care, visit www.christianacare.org

SOURCE Christiana Care Health System