Dedicated Website Supports Post-Bariatric Surgery Patients

A web-based clinical support tool for gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy patients helps them lose more weight in the first years after surgery.

The REALIZE mySUCCESS website is intended to reinforce the connection between the bariatric practice and the patient, a connection critical to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, especially in the first three years after surgery. Among the strategies implemented via the website are assistance for the bariatric surgery patient in completing the five phases of postoperative food texture advancement with sample daily meals, staged over time; adopting good eating and hydration practices, including food choices, portion control, small bites, thorough chewing, and separating liquids from meals; identifying emotional triggers for noncompliance by enabling them to track calorie consumption by mood, setting, and planned compared to unplanned meals; supplementing appropriately with micronutrients for optimum health; and helping them stay motivated and compliant by setting goals and by creating personal plans, reminders, coping strategies, and support systems to achieve them.

In addition to helping patients, the website also helps healthcare professionals streamline bariatric patient care. Since patients share progress measures with the practice via the web, clinicians can review patient information including weight history, health information, and food diary entries before and after bariatric surgery. When patients have difficulty, the practice is notified with updates and can step in to provide timely guidance and support.

Thus, office visits can be focused on specific patient issues affecting health, compliance, and long-term outcomes; direct access to the patient's weight history, food diary, and site usage can be used as a diagnostic tool in identifying patient's specific challenges; and continuous updates on patient progress can be used to initiate counseling as necessary to keep patients on track. The REALIZE mySUCCESS program is available exclusively to patients who have a gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy procedure where an Ethicon Endo-Surgery (Cincinnati, OH, USA) Endocutter or REALIZE Band are used.

"Ethicon Endo-Surgery is committed to long-term patient success through clinically proven solutions and support," said Tom O'Brien, director of global obesity marketing at Ethicon Endo-Surgery. "Given the demonstrated results of REALIZE mySUCCESS for REALIZE Band patients we felt an obligation to make the clinical tool available for bypass and sleeve patients. Now clinicians can have a real-time view of all their patients' progress between office visits making the most of in-office consultations."

The majority of the content and tools on the website are similar across procedure, since the principles of behavior modification are the same for all bariatric patients. However, there are some procedural differences that led to the addition of new content and tools to meet the specific needs of gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy patients.

Related Links:
REALIZE mySUCCESS
Ethicon Endo-Surgery