Challenges and solutions to sustaining paediatric weight management programs in the United States.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-2023

Identifier

DOI: 10.1111/cob.12577

Abstract

Paediatric weight management (PWM) programs in the United States (US) face challenges in providing sustainable multidisciplinary care for patients. The aim of this study was to report PWM program approaches to sustaining program delivery. A survey of 39 PWM programs was administered to identify challenges and solutions to program sustainability. Common and useful strategies for optimizing reimbursement for services included the use of applicable reimbursable diagnostic codes and management, billing for assessments and non-medical personnel services, and the use of hospital outpatient department clinic billing. Increasing clinical breadth and capacity was achieved by offering telemedicine and other services, such as psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and metabolic and bariatric surgery, as well as active management of schedules. Securing institutional and extramural funding was also reported. One of the positive changes during the pandemic was the fast adoption of telemedicine services. Although delivering sustainable evidence-based multidisciplinary PWM under the current US payment models has its challenges, PWM programs implement practical operational strategies to support this work.

Journal Title

Clin Obes

Volume

13

Issue

3

First Page

12577

Last Page

12577

MeSH Keywords

Humans; Child; United States; Weight Reduction Programs; Psychotherapy

Keywords

healthcare delivery; multidisciplinary treatment; paediatric obesity; sustainability; weight management programs

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