Westmed Medical Group has opened a Comprehensive Weight Loss Center that offers patients a multi specialty, individually tailored approach to weight loss said to be the first of its kind among health care providers in Westchester County.
Launching the center involved no additional construction to the Westmed office at 3030 Westchester Ave. in Purchase, an 85,000-square-foot facility that opened in May 2015, and required no new hires. Instead, the center”™s director Dr. Nitya Sharma explained, the center represents a consolidation, in both location and mindset, of services offered within the Westmed group.
“It”™s a much better process now for patients,” said Sharma, who is double board certified in internal medicine and obesity medicine. “It”™s not up to them to figure out where to go, what to do. We can help navigate them better.”
The center will coordinate weight loss-focused services from seven different medical specialties and 26 doctors in the Westmed group. It features doctors specialized in bariatric surgery, behavioral health and psychiatry, gastroenterology, OB/GYN, physical therapy, sleep medicine and weight management. The center employs a total of 35 physicians and support staff.
A patient receives a medical and nutritional history assessment to determine a personalized treatment plan. That plan would likely focus on nutrition, physical fitness, behavioral health support and consultations with other departments within the center. Patients then have regular follow-up visits to track progress.
Consultations for bariatric surgery are also available for morbidly obese patients who may have conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnea. Bariatric surgeons within the Westmed group are trained to perform all approved forms of bariatric surgery in the U.S., according to Ashutosh Kaul, a specialist in advanced abdominal laparoscopic surgery.
The center”™s approach to weight loss focuses more on scientific methods than the behavioral approach adopted by weight-loss programs such as Weight Watchers, Overeaters Anonymous and Nutrisystem, Sharma said.
“A lot of weight-loss programs focus more on diet and exercise,” she said. “They are programs that just offer meal replacements and increased physical activity. But they are missing the boat, as there are many other, more scientific measures that affect a person”™s ability to regulate their weight.”
Sharma said she asks patients about their levels of sleep, stress, new medications and when problems with obesity began. “All those factors affect what kind of recommendations we would be prescribing,” she said.
Obesity can often be an awkward subject for a primary care physician to discuss with patients, Sharma said, and the hope is that through a scientific approach the stigma surrounding the topic can be lifted.
“I think a great barrier people often face is the feeling of guilt,” said Kaul. “If you have diabetes, you are happy to go to a doctor. If you have hypertension, you are happy to go to a doctor. But when it comes to obesity, there is a much greater stigma and a blame on self.”
Since treatment is individualized, insurance coverage for weight loss program costs varies by patient. Sharma said insurance companies don”™t usually cover the costs for a dietitian or nutritionist. But if certain co-morbidities such as high blood pressure or diabetes are present, it”™s possible all costs associated with the treatments could be covered. To have bariatric surgery covered by insurance, for example, a patient must have at least two co-morbidities and a body mass index of 35 or more.
There is no fixed treatment time for patients at the weight-loss center. Instead, a patient sets a weight loss target or other health goals and works toward those, Sharma said. After the goals are reached, a patient has the option to set what Sharma called “maintenance” appointments to make sure they are keeping within their goals.
The idea for a weight-loss center started in discussions among Westmed doctors three years ago. With physical therapy and other Westmed services under one roof in the new facility, Sharma said this was the right time to formally launch the center.
The center provides operational advantages to Westmed. Increased coordination between doctors of different specialties cuts down on costs associated with redundant lab testing, investigations and time spent having a patient rehash stories and symptoms.
Sharma said there is a “huge dropoff” in follow-up medical care when patients are referred to outside providers. It can be difficult to track whether a patient follows through with the necessary appointments. By coordinating within the medical group, and more specifically the center, it is easier to follow up with patients, she said.
More than two-thirds of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “so that”™s a majority of the population that can be helped by a weight loss center,” said Jonathan Giannone, a bariatric surgeon in the Westmed weight loss program.
Kaul said employers have increasingly encouraged a healthy lifestyle, as cutting down on obesity in the workplace can mean fewer sick days used and reduced insurance costs and workplace accidents.
“People who are healthy are better able to focus on the work,” Kaul said.
Westmed is looking to draw interest in the weight loss program through a mix of online marketing, word of mouth and referrals.
Sharma said she intends to continue to grow the center and is planning to hire a pediatric nutritionist, pediatric obesity specialist and an additional dietitian. The goal is to provide a weight loss program that launches people toward a more independent, healthy lifestyle.
“A doctor says to you ”˜Oh, you need to exercise more and eat better,”™” said Dr. Christina Rosado, director of physical therapy for Westmed “Well, where do you start? This is the program for that.”
