Aftercare Platforms

Obesity has been recognized as a public health crisis for several decades. In that time, bariatric surgical procedures that alter the anatomy and physiology of weight gain have proven to be significantly more effective than medical therapy alone. However, these procedures do not come without the risks of surgical intervention and carry the need for lifelong follow-up. The emergence of improved endoscopic technologies in the last decade has the potential to address these limitations, and there are now several FDA-approved endoscopic treatments that offer some benefits of surgical intervention without incisions or general anesthesia. These options still require close patient follow-up and are taking advantage of the extension of social media and mobile technology into medicine to keep patients informed and engaged before and especially after their procedure. These aftercare platforms have a variety of functions and formats depending on the procedure performed and the needs of patient and provider alike. With the potential for cost savings and improved patient outreach, bariatric providers can benefit from being familiar with these services and applying them to their own practices. Scientific databases and the Internet at large were queried regarding aftercare platforms currently being used in the care of bariatric patients; the first of which was introduced in 2006. This cohort was subsequently limited to those that are available to all patients and providers regardless of institutional affiliation. There are currently five widely available platforms for contracting by any provider of bariatric services and two more that are exclusive to patients receiving a particular endoscopic device. They differ widely in the services available to patients and providers, their ease of use, and the information they contain. They share a common utility in aggregating information for more efficient application to the modern bariatric clinical experience. Limited comparative studies have been performed regarding cost savings or patient outcomes, but the number of platforms continues to grow parallel to those of endoscopic bariatrics and telemedicine. Endoscopic bariatric aftercare programs, whether provided with a proprietary device or available under contract to providers, represent a significant advancement in patient care. Their development and proliferation are being driven by the coincident opportunity for innovation within bariatrics and the economic advantages of telemedicine. All practitioners employing endoscopic bariatric techniques should be aware of the potential for these platforms to improve patient care as well as the efficiency of their practice.