Wellmark names Blue Distinction hospitals for bariatric surgery

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Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced recently that three Iowa hospitals and one South Dakota hospital have achieved the Blue Distinction Centers Specialty Care designation for bariatric surgery. Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa in Mason City and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City received the designations, as well as Sanford Medical Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. The award recognizes hospitals that deliver quality care resulting in better overall outcomes for bariatric patients. Bariatric surgeries, which include gastric banding and gastric bypass procedures, are among the most commonly performed elective procedures in the United States, with 179,000 bariatric surgeries performed in 2013, according to the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.