As the years pass, weight-loss surgery patients, like everyone else, will require routine screening for certain chronic conditions. What is important is ensuring your primary care team is aware of the need for specialty testing to monitor vitamin and mineral levels.

 You should also check with one of the labs and your insurance company to make sure they are a contracted facility and that the order is covered under your policy. It is your responsibility to ensure that your insurance company will pay for the ordered labs. We are in no way responsible for verifying the benefits of the laboratory services we order.

It is critical that patients who have undergone weight-loss surgery receive continuous annual follow-up care and monitoring. It is critical that patients continue to receive yearly follow-up care, not only by completing their scheduled laboratory studies but also by attending an in-office follow-up exam. Patients are welcome to contact our office and schedule an in-person or virtual follow-up.

It is not in your best interest for us to receive lab results without first having the opportunity to get an update on your health. Due to medical, legal, and insurance issues, we cannot order yearly laboratory studies without first seeing the patient in our office. Some patients may choose to have their labs ordered by their primary care physicians; in that case, we suggest they review the information on our website. This is to ensure that we are not ordering tests for patients who will not follow up with us, and that the PCPs who ordered the labs will be able to review the results and make recommendations.