Testimonial from the Volpe Family 2015

Our journey began with our daughter, AnnMarie. She was overly frustrated with her weight and wanted to do something to end the on-going struggle once and for all. So she began researching….

At age 14, AnnMarie expressed to us her aspiration for a gastric surgery. Our first reaction was “NO WAY!” AnnMarie continued to gain weight. She was unrelenting in her desire for the extra support that gastric surgery would offer. The more she talked, the more we researched. It seemed that vertical sleeve gastrectomy was helping many people achieve their weight loss goals. This seemed to be just the tool she needed….But who would be willing to perform surgery on a 14 year old? She found the name of a doctor online. There was a testimonial from a young adult (just one year older than she) on the website…so we made the call to Dr. Abkin.

The education and support we received from the very first phone call was amazing. AnnMarie had her surgery at the age of 15 and thrived from it. My husband and I were so thrilled, we decided to go forward with VSG surgery as well. Our household is now healthier and happier than ever. We make better food choices, obtained normal blood pressure and cholesterol, and are down about 300 pounds collectively. Moreover, 5 of our friends have seen our success and have also had the surgery. We have our own little support group.

One year post surgery, we booked a Hawaiian cruise… a trip that would not have been possible one year earlier. (We would not have fit in the airplane seats!)… Not only were we capable on the long flights, we were able to go on several of the excursions offered on the trip…excursions with weight limits! We flew over an active volcano in a helicopter, went snorkeling, tried zip lining, went tubing in Kuai, and rode bikes down Mount Haleakala! The best part of the trip was my husband and I renewing our vows on a beach in Maui…

Thank you Dr. Abkin for making it all possible! You gave us the tools and support we needed to be successful and healthy, and we cannot wait to see what else the future holds for us. We no longer live to eat….we eat to live (and have fun!)

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JFK Medical Center Recognized for Quality in Bariatric Surgery

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey recognizes six healthcare facilities for quality in bariatric surgery

For Immediate Release – (Newark, New Jersey, February 5, 2015) – Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) today named six healthcare facilities in New Jersey as part of the Blue Distinction® Centers for Specialty Care program. These noteworthy healthcare facilities have been designated as Blue Distinction® Centers for delivering quality care resulting in better overall outcomes for bariatric patients.

“Horizon is committed to providing our 3.7 million members with access to high quality health care services, so we are proud to recognize those hospitals in our network that have gone above and beyond to improve care quality and enhance patient safety,” said Jim Albano, vice president of Network Management and Horizon Healthcare Innovations at Horizon BCBSNJ.

To receive a Blue Distinction Center for Bariatric Surgery designation, a healthcare facility must demonstrate success in meeting patient safety as well as bariatric-specific quality measures, including complications and readmissions, for gastric stapling and/or gastric banding procedures. A healthcare facility must also have earned national accreditations at both the facility level and the bariatric care-specific level.

The following healthcare facilities in New Jersey have been named as part of the Blue Distinction® Centers for Specialty Care program:

  • AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Pomona, NJ
  • Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ
  • Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, NJ
  • JFK Medical Center in Edison, NJ
  • Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ
  • Virtua-Memorial in Mount Holly, NJ

Bariatric surgeries are among the most common elective surgeries in the U.S., which provides a significant opportunity to improve quality within the healthcare system. There were 179,000 bariatric surgeries performed in 2013, according to the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and the average cost is more than $28,000 per episode, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Furthermore, it is estimated that 72 million Americans are obese and 24 million suffer from morbid obesity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The estimated annual healthcare costs of obesity-related illnesses are $190.2 billion, or nearly 21 percent of annual medical spending in the U.S., according to the Journal of Health Economics.

Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality providers for their specialty care needs in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, spine surgery, and transplants while encouraging healthcare professionals to improve the care they deliver. For more information about the Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care program and for a complete listing of the designated facilities, please visit www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.
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About Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s oldest and largest health insurer is a tax-paying, not-for-profit health service corporation, providing a wide array of medical, dental, and prescription insurance products and services. Horizon BCBSNJ is leading the transformation of health care in New Jersey by working with doctors and hospitals to deliver innovative, patient-centered programs that reward the quality, not quantity, of care patients receive. Learn more at www.HorizonBlue.com. Horizon BCBSNJ is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association serving more than 3.7 million members.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 37 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide healthcare coverage for nearly 105 million members – one in three Americans. For more information on the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its member companies, please visit bcbs.com. We encourage you to connect with us on Facebook, check out our videos on YouTube, follow us on Twitter and check out The BCBS Blog, for up-to-date information about BCBSA.

About Blue Distinction Centers

Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures for patient safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community. National criteria is displayed on www.bcbs.com. A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for facilities located in its own service area. For details on Local Blue Plan Criteria, a provider’s in-network status, or your own policy’s coverage, contact your Local Blue Plan. Each facility’s cost of care is evaluated using data from its Local Blue Plan. Facilities in CA, ID, NY, PA, and WA may lie in two Local Blue Plans’ areas, resulting in two evaluations for cost of care; and their own Local Blue Plans decide whether one or both cost of care evaluation(s) must meet BDC+ national criteria. Neither Blue Cross Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for damages or non-covered charges resulting from Blue Distinction or other provider finder information or care received from Blue Distinction or other providers.

Contact:
Thomas Vincz
973-466-6625
Thomas_Vincz@HorizonBlue.com

 

Bariatric Surgery Costs Recouped With Reduced Medications

Obese patients who undergo laparoscopic bariatric surgery use significantly fewer medications in the long term than those who do not have the surgery, according to an analysis of national insurance claims. The yearly savings in prescription drug costs four years after surgery was $1,500.

“The decreased rate of prescription drug utilization over four years among patients who underwent surgery compared to those in the nonsurgery cohort may be due to an improvement in comorbid burden post-surgery,” said John Morton, MD, president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASBMS) and director of bariatric surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, in Stanford, Calif. Dr. Morton presented the study at Obesity Week 2014 (abstract a103).

Previous research examining the effect of bariatric surgery on health care costs has been mixed. An employer claims database study conducted between 1999 and 2005 estimated the cost of bariatric surgery to be between $17,000 and $26,000, and concluded that downstream savings offset initial costs in two to four years (Am J Manag Care 2008;14:589-596).

Another study, a six-year follow-up of 30,000 obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery between 2002 and 2008 and a matched nonsurgical cohort, concluded that bariatric surgery does not reduce overall health care in the long term (JAMA Surgery 2013;148:555-562). Dr. Morton pointed out that this latter study predated the accreditation of bariatric surgical centers and use of the laparoscopic approach, both of which have demonstrated lower complications and costs. The study also had a follow-up rate of only 7%.

In the new study, investigators analyzed pharmacy costs from the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database for patients who had a diagnosis of obesity between Jan. 1, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2008. They compared data for patients who underwent laparoscopic bariatric surgery (laparoscopic gastric band or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass; n=2,700) and a cohort of similar matched patients who did not (n=2,700), with 100% follow-up at four years. This nationwide database contains data for approximately 56 million covered lives from all 50 states.

In their sample, the investigators did not include patients if they had evidence of inflammatory bowel disease, familial adenomatous polyposis, noninfectious colitis, cancer of the digestive organs or peritoneum during the year before the index period. Patients had to be continuously enrolled in a health insurance plan from one year pre-index period to four years post-index. The two patient groups were similar, but individuals who had the surgery had higher rates of cardiovascular disease (65.9% vs. 56.7%), acid reflux (24.7% vs. 11.1%) and sleep apnea (39.6% vs. 18.7%).

Patients in the surgery group had higher total pharmacy costs at one year after surgery or post-index year ($3,098 vs. $2,303), but lower costs in the next three years. At four years, prescription drug costs were $8,411 for patients who had bariatric surgery and $9,900 for those who did not. After adjusting for pre-index pharmacy costs and comorbidities, pharmacy costs were 22.6% lower for surgery cases than controls at four years post-index (cost ratio, 0.774; 95% confidence interval, 0.728-0.821; P<0.0001).

Reductions were driven by lower antidiabetic, antihypertensive and cardiovascular drug prescription costs. Whereas the proportion of patients receiving cardiovascular prescriptions declined among those who had surgery from one year to four years post-index (42% vs. 40%), it increased among nonsurgical patients (34% vs. 46%). The same trend was seen for antihypertensive prescriptions (surgery, 66% to 59%; no surgery, 59% to 70%) and antidiabetic prescriptions (surgery, 34% to 21%; no surgery, 30% to 38%).

According to Dr. Morton, the first-year increase for the surgery group was likely attributable to medications that patients sometimes receive after surgery, such as pain medicines and proton pump inhibitors. “Whatever cost savings there were around diabetic medications or high blood pressure medications were lost because of those other medications,” Dr. Morton said.

Bariatric surgery also affected the total number of prescription drugs used by patients. After multivariate adjustments, at four years post-index, the number of antidiabetic prescriptions was 74% lower among surgery cases than nonsurgical cases. Similar trends were seen for the number of antihypertensive prescriptions (48.3% lower) and number of cardiovascular prescriptions excluding antihypertensives (48.9% lower).

“It is likely that additional medication cost savings may be maintained years following surgery,” Dr. Morton said.

According to Robin Blackstone, MD, medical director of Scottsdale Healthcare Bariatric Center, in Scottsdale, Ariz., who was not involved in the study, the research is extremely relevant.

“We are all anxious to prove the value of bariatric surgery,” she said, noting that the study established its effectiveness in reducing medication costs.

Dr. Morton said he expected the Affordable Care Act to increase the rates of bariatric surgery. Only 22 states cover bariatric surgery, but a joint initiative from ASMBS and the American College of Surgeons will address expanding coverage to all 50 states. According to Dr. Morton, his study provides evidence that this expansion will be valuable.

Source: http://www.generalsurgerynews.com/ViewArticle.aspx?d=In+the+News&d_id=69&i=January+2015&i_id=1142&a_id=29173&ses=ogst

Employers Should Start Treating Morbid Obesity As A Disability

Benefits are given to other people with physical disabilities. Why not those with morbid obesity?

It is obvious that morbid obesity — which is defined as having a body mass index above 40 — is a disability, regardless of the cause. But throughout many legal systems, that’s still a question that remains unanswered. As obesity rates continue to rise, U.S. and European courts have grappled with whether to classify the most severe cases as a disability, which would require employers to provide necessary accommodations so obese employees can overcome their handicap at work, such as larger chairs and uniforms. In recent years, the U.S. legal system has started leaning in favor of obese workers.

By failing to recognize morbid obesity as a disability, society is alienating a growing number of people from working life. We don’t debate whether a person who breaks his back due to reckless behavior should be granted disabled status. Morbidly obese people should be afforded the same benefits as other workers suffering with debilitating conditions.

Read the full article via The Washington Post here.

10 Years After Gastric Bypass Surgery: Pat's Story

I have to Thank Dr Abkin as I’ve reached my 10 Year Surgiversary and I am so thankful for all he has done for me. When I think back 10 years ago and how sick I was, it’s all sad thoughts. I was in pain every day and wasn’t able to do my work anymore. Diabetes, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Heart Problems and Fibromyalgia were taking me away from my life! Today I am Free of Diabetes, Sleep Apnea and Heart Problems… My Fibro is under control and I have back my Life! I can’t imagine what life would have been like if I hadn’t had my Gastric Bypass…or if I’d even still be here. But I’m Here… and So Happy with my Life. My Family has grown and I so much enjoy being able to play with my Great Nieces and Nephew. Thank You Dr Abkin for not only being the best at what you do, but for being such a caring person as well.
Read Pat’s Full Story

Dr. Abkin Voted 2014 Top Doctor by New Jersey Monthly Magazine

Dr. Alexander Abkin was voted NJ TOP DOCS in Bariatric Surgery by New Jersey Monthly Magazine for a 8th Consecutive Year! (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014)

Dr. Alexander Abkin and his practice are dedicated to minimally invasive weight loss surgery and medical weight loss management. Dr. Abkin’s philosophy is that bariatric surgery is a highly successful way to resolve diabetes and other life-threatening medical problems found in morbidly obese patients. In the past 16 years he has performed more than 7000 bariatric procedures.

Through regional affiliations, Dr. Abkin provides exceptional care throughout New Jersey by offering a full spectrum of options, including gastric bypass, adjustable gastric band and sleeve gastrectomy. Using the laparoscopic approach, he helps patients return to a better quality of life quickly and with less discomfort. The first surgeon in the Northeast to implement the Realize® Band procedure in 2007, he was also the first surgeon on the East Coast to offer single-incision gastric bypass in 2009.

Dr. Abkin is a board-certified surgeon and his practice is recognized as a Center of Excellence by the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. He is also medical director of bariatric care at JFK Medical Center. A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Abkin is a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and the American Medical Association. This is his eighth consecutive year as a New Jersey Monthly Top Doctor.

HOSPITAL AFFILIATIONS: Florham Park Surgery Center; JFK Medical Center, Edison; Morristown Medical Center. MEDICAL TRAINING: First Leningrad University, Russia (MD).

The Link Between Obesity and Cancer

In 2003, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a study that included more than 900,000 American adults. Researchers followed the healthy study participants for 16 years, and found the heaviest participants were more likely to develop and die from cancer than participants who were at a healthy weight.

Sourcehttp://www.cnn.com/2014/10/01/health/obesity-cancer-asco/index.html

A Call for a Low-Carb Diet That Embraces Fat

People who avoid carbohydrates and eat more fat, even saturated fat, lose more body fat and have fewer cardiovascular risks than people who follow the low-fat diet that health authorities have favored for decades, a major new study shows.

The findings are unlikely to be the final salvo in what has been a long and often contentious debate about what foods are best to eat for weight loss and overall health. The notion that dietary fat is harmful, particularly saturated fat, arose decades ago from comparisons of disease rates among large national populations.

SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/health/low-carb-vs-low-fat-diet.html?emc=eta1