Background: Obesity is a disease that affects many Americans. This disease is leading many people fighting obesity to turn to bariatric surgery as the only option. While bariatric surgery is a proven effective option for weight loss, patients who do not adhere to the lifestyle changes and follow-up regimen may suffer from weight regain and other complications. Foreground: Clinicians working with bariatric surgical patients are now required by accrediting bodies to track adherence rate of follow-up appointments after bariatric surgery. Due to regulation with accreditation in bariatric surgery, facilities are required to maintain a minimum of 80% adherence to follow-up appointments. EBP Framework: The Stevens Star Model provided the framework for the evidence based practice change of increasing follow up adherence rates. In order to achieve a life-long commitment to lifestyle modifications from bariatric patients, a balance must exist with all aspects of the human system and the Neuman Systems Model guided this process in this project. Methods: Data analysis revealed a follow-up adherence rate below 80% in an outpatient clinic. The processes regarding behavioral health assessments capturing follow-up adherence was analyzed and determined to be insufficient; thus a new instrument was adopted. The behavioral health assessment instrument used in capturing follow-up adherence and other barriers to care was changed to a valid and reliable instrument. Data analysis of follow-up adherence rates was reanalyzed at 1 month after change to determine whether rates had increased. Findings/Results: Follow-up percetages increased from 75.9% to 88.9% in 30 days following surgery. The behavioral health licensed counselors completed the Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic assessment for eight patients. The population that met qualifications for surgery was four. Conclusion/Recommendations: Due to the low number of qualified surgical candidates to follow after surgery, follow-up data will be re-evaluated again at one-year and the sample population will include all patients seen moving forward. Even though the follow-up percentages improved in one-month’s time, the low population numbers may have contributed to the improvement. Comparative data with other practices revealed the need for continual improvement. The goal of follow-up percentages should be re-evaluated to be above 95%.
