A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: file_get_contents(https://...@gmail.com&api_key=61f08fa0b96a73de8c900d749fcb997acc09): Failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests

Filename: helpers/my_audit_helper.php

Line Number: 143

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/application/helpers/my_audit_helper.php
Line: 143
Function: file_get_contents

File: /var/www/html/application/helpers/my_audit_helper.php
Line: 209
Function: simplexml_load_file_from_url

File: /var/www/html/application/helpers/my_audit_helper.php
Line: 994
Function: getPubMedXML

File: /var/www/html/application/helpers/my_audit_helper.php
Line: 3134
Function: GetPubMedArticleOutput_2016

File: /var/www/html/application/controllers/Detail.php
Line: 574
Function: pubMedSearch_Global

File: /var/www/html/application/controllers/Detail.php
Line: 488
Function: pubMedGetRelatedKeyword

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once

Reduced Survival in Bariatric Surgery Candidates Delayed or Denied by Lack of Insurance Approval. | LitMetric

AI Article Synopsis

  • Bariatric surgery can significantly lower mortality rates for eligible Americans, provided they have insurance coverage and meet candidacy criteria.
  • A study analyzed the survival rates of patients who were either approved or denied insurance for bariatric procedures, revealing a much higher mortality rate among those initially denied coverage.
  • The research highlighted that 22% of medically suitable candidates faced delays or denials in insurance approval, leading to a three-fold increase in mortality risk for those affected.

Article Abstract

Bariatric surgery reduces mortality for Americans who meet candidacy criteria and have insurance coverage. Unfortunately, some medically suitable candidates are denied or delayed during insurance approval processes. The long-term impact of such care delays on survival is unknown. Using a prospectively maintained bariatric intake database, we identified consecutive applicants who were evaluated and medically cleared by our multidisciplinary care team and for whom insurance approval was requested. We compared survival in those who were initially approved by their insurance carriers (controls) and those who were initially denied coverage (subjects). Mortality was determined using the Social Security Death Index. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted and the log-rank test for significance was applied. From August 2003 to December 2008, 463 patients (391 females, mean age 45 ± 10 years, mean body mass index 52.5 ± 9.4 kg/m(2)) were medically cleared for a bariatric procedure. Of these, 363 were approved by insurance on initial request, whereas 100 were denied. Given the study's intention to measure the aggregate impact of delays and denials, nine patients who later came to operation after appeal or coverage change were maintained in the subject cohort. During 0- to 113-month follow-up, six subjects (6%) died compared with seven controls (1.9%), corresponding to a statistically significant survival benefit for patients initially approved for bariatric surgery without delay or denial (P < 0.001). In conclusion, access to bariatric surgical care was impeded by insurance certification processes in 22 per cent of medically acceptable candidates. Processes that delay or restrict efficient access to bariatric surgery are associated with a 3-fold mortality increase.

Download full-text PDF

Source

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

bariatric surgery
16
insurance approval
12
medically cleared
8
initially approved
8
approved insurance
8
access bariatric
8
bariatric
7
insurance
7
reduced survival
4
survival bariatric
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Notice

Message: fwrite(): Write of 34 bytes failed with errno=28 No space left on device

Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php

Line Number: 272

Backtrace:

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: session_write_close(): Failed to write session data using user defined save handler. (session.save_path: /var/lib/php/sessions)

Filename: Unknown

Line Number: 0

Backtrace: