Page 112 - When surgery alone won’t cut it - Valerie Maureen Monpellier

Chapter 6
think about BCS, reimbursement and their body. The results seem to show that most patients do meet the weight qualifications that are set by insurance companies. And because the NOK treats a significant proportion of patients who undergo bariatric surgery in our country, the current sample seems to be a good representation of the post-bariatric population.
CONCLUSION
This study shows that there is a significant number of post-bariatric patients who have a desire for BCS and meet the weight criteria for reimbursement. However, the majority of these patients never consulted the plastic surgeon, making the problem of excess skin invisible for treating doctors, such as plastic surgeons and bariatric surgeons, but also for government and insurance companies. And more importantly, patients will not get a treatment that decreases complaints, and improves well-be- ing and weight loss maintenance. Therefore, post-bariatric patients should be better informed by (cooperating) plastic and bariatric surgeons about BCS. Consisting of information regarding excess skin and BCS reimbursement before bariatric surgery and assessment of complaints at follow-up. In addition, plastic surgeons and bariat- ric teams should properly communicate guidelines regarding reimbursement to the patients and develop objective criteria to decide which patients qualify for reimburse- ment of BCS.
112