Statewide collaboration at the forefront of inaugural Obesity Summit

Staying true to the spirit of collaboration over competition, Michigan Bariatric Surgical Collaborative (MBSC) and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan hosted the first annual Obesity Summit on September 23, 2022. This brought together more than 330 health care providers and health system leaders from across the state of Michigan to learn about advances in treatment as well as obesity’s impact on patients’ overall health and well-being.

In addition to the conference, the Obesity Summit hosted a Collaborative Quality Initiatives fair, welcoming representatives from 19 CQIs. This was an exciting opportunity for CQI team members to discuss their quality improvement work with summit attendees. The CQIs’ impact in a wide range of health care areas, including cardiovascular health, hospital safety, health disparities, cancer and population health was also showcased.

The summit addressed the burden of obesity, surgical and post-surgical care, pharmaceutical and other nonsurgical treatment options, mental health concerns and holistic approaches. Noted was that all types of bariatric surgery procedures in Michigan are safer than ever thanks to physician collaboration across the state. In Michigan, post-surgical mortality rates have dropped more than 60 percent since the mid-2000s.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.