Blue Distinction Center for Bariatric Surgery

UCI Health Bariatric Surgery Services is designated as a Blue Distinction® Center (BDC) for Bariatric Surgery. The Blue Distinction Center designation is awarded by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association only to those bariatric surgery centers with a proven track record for delivering better results, including fewer complications and readmissions, than other providers. The UCI Health Bariatric Surgery Services team has held this distinction since 2015.

BDCs for Bariatric Surgery provide a full range of bariatric surgery care, including surgical care, post-operative care, outpatient follow-up care and patient education. 

It also means that the UCI Health team provides a full range of bariatric surgery options, including patient assessment, treatment planning, complex inpatient care and major surgical treatments for adults — all delivered by teams with distinguished expertise and subspecialty training in bariatric surgery and digestive disease health. 

To become a BDC, a provider must meet overall quality measures for patient safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community (though individual outcomes may vary). National criteria are displayed on www.bcbs.com.

In addition to its BDC designation, since 2010, the UCI Health Bariatric Surgery program has been accredited by the American College of Surgeons' Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement (MBSAQIP) Program, the gold standard for assessing quality for surgical services.