Christiana Care Health System has a new corporate contract for bariatric surgery.
The Kansas City-based global health information corporation Cerner has selected Christiana Care to perform all bariatric surgeries needed for Cerner employees.
Cerner recently began offering the procedure as a health benefit. Bariatric surgery is a surgical procedure performed on the digestive system to induce weight loss.
Christiana Care COO Sharon Kurfuerst says the health system was selected after responding to a request for proposal from Cerner. She says a process is now in place for consulting with Cerner candidates for the procedure all over the country.
“So using some innovative strategies like telehealth to be able to connect with the patient and their primary care physician both preoperatively and postoperatively,” said Kurfuerst.
Kurfuerst says it’s difficult to know how much revenue the new contract will bring in. She notes Cerner’s employees have individualized health plans and it’s not clear how many will want and qualify for bariatric surgery
The National Institute of Health recommends bariatric surgery as an option for people with a body mass index of 40 or more.
Kurfuerst adds the move puts Christiana Care’s bariatric program on the national stage.
“So the ability to demonstrate our clinical excellence and outstanding outcomes to folks, really, nationally,” she said. “So we’re pretty proud to be selected as the only partner.”
The new contract went into effect at the beginning of the year. Cerner employs more than 28,000 people worldwide.