Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) Bariatric Credentialing Guidelines

With the continued growth of bariatric surgery, there has been scrutiny of outcomes. Professional societies, insurance companies, and watch-dog organizations have developed guidelines for the best practices of bariatric surgery and the granting of privileges to qualified surgeons to perform bariatric procedures.

The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) has a history of authoring privileging and practice guidelines for the promotion of patient safety and improvement of clinical outcomes. Currently, there are 15 such guidelines, ranging from the granting of privileges for gastrointestinal endoscopy to the use of deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis in laparoscopic surgery.

In July 2003, the Board of Governors of SAGES approved the Guidelines for Institutions Granting Bariatric Privileges Utilizing Laparoscopic Techniques. The statement was originally prepared jointly with members of the American Society of Bariatric Surgery (ASBS), now the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). Since then, the ASMBS has published its own guidelines on the granting of privileges for bariatric procedures.