In bariatric care, the challenge is to create and maintain a set up where solutions can be offered to those who are obese and need help with simple things like mobility, safe seating and transport while they embark on a path to better health. At the same time the center or clinic needs to create a safe working environment for care-givers, while ensuring that patients can get the care they need with dignity. Apart from physical help from healthcare professionals and advice from nutritionists and dieticians, patients at these clinics may also need psychiatric counseling to cope with the stress of switching to a different lifestyle in order to lose weight. Bariatric patient tracking helps customize treatments for individuals based on their medical conditions and special needs.
Apart from clinics that specialize in bariatric care, even regular hospitals need to have a system in place for bariatric patient tracking so that they are Retriever-guard when faced with an emergency room situation involving an obese patient. Knowing the proportion of obese patients out of the hospital's total patient population helps the administration allocate adequate resources for the special equipment needed for bariatric care. Everything from weighing scales to seating in out-patient clinics and the size of doorways into doctor's offices and the strength of the gurneys is put to the test when there are obese patients to be treated.
Most importantly, bariatric patient tracking is a vital tool in ensuring the success of the program in a bariatric care centre because it helps monitor the progress made by comparing before and after records and updating them on a day to day basis. Health care professionals, nutritionists and dieticians can constantly review the course of the treatment and revise their recommendations when necessary. For instance, a long term effect of bariatric surgery could be mal nutrition, particularly if the patient undergoes mal absorptive surgery which limits the absorption of nutrients from the food consumed. If the patient is irregular or careless about consuming the prescribed dietary supplements and vitamins, mal nutrition may set in. Continuous bio chemical screening and monitoring of reports helps health care professionals catch the signs of malnutrition early and take remedial steps.
Recording the outcome of bariatric surgery over a period of time creates a valuable database for future patient care. Electronic medical records that list out co-mobidities, complications and steps taken to overcome them give doctors and patients alike the tools to make an informed decision on the type of surgery that may be suitable for a particular case.