medicare center excellence

Has any centers in the syracuse, rochester or buffalo area become a medicare center of excellence recently? please advise. I've called medicare serveral times and can not reach anyone who knows anything. Any information on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Hello & Welcome! (*Tina havent we emailed before?) There are 2 accreditating bodies for bariatric surgery: The American Society of Bariatric Surgeons & The American College of Surgeons Here is the link to all ASBS Centers of Excellence: *they go by state! *some states have none u may have to travel! http://www.surgicalreview.org/locate.aspx http://www.surgicalreview.org/locate.aspx?state=NY#srchResults for NY: (formatting didnt tranfer w cut/paste well) HOSPITAL PRACTICE SURGEON Brooklyn, NY New York Methodist Hospital (No contact info provided) New York Methodist Hospital (No contact info provided) Dr. Piotr J Gorecki Buffalo, NY Sisters of Charity Hospital 2157 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14214 716-862-1000 visit website Synergy Bariatrics 30 North Union Road Suite 104 Williamsville, NY 14221 716-565-3990 visit website Dr. Joseph A. Caruana Elmira, NY Arnot Ogden Medical Center (No contact info provided) Bariatric Surgical Assoc. LLC (No contact info provided) Dr. Douglas Denton McKane Dr. Robert Esmond Cole New Rochelle, NY Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester 16 Guion Place New Rochelle, NY 10803 914-632-5000 visit website Sound Shore Surgical Assoc.Of New Rochelle,LLP 16 Guion Place New Rochelle, NY 10801 914-632-9650 visit website Dr. Leonard Maffucci Dr. Madhu Sudan Rangraj New York, NY Mount Sinai Hospital One Gustave L. Levy Place 1190 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10029 (212) 241-6500 visit website Mount Sinai Program for Surgical Weight Loss 5 East 98th Street, Box 1259 New York, NY 10029 212-241-5339 visit website Dr. Daniel Martin Herron Dr. Subhash Ullal Kini Oceanside , NY South Nassau Communities hospital One Healthy Way Oceanside, NY 11572 516-374-8657 visit website New York Bariatrics & Laparoscopy P.C 1420 Broadway Hewlett, NY 11557 516-374-8631 visit website Dr. Rajeev Vohra Port Jervis, NY Bon Secours Community Hospital 160 East Main Street Port Jervis, NY 12771 845-858-7000 visit website Peter H. Kwon, M.D. (No contact info provided) Dr. Peter H. Kwon Riverhead, NY Peconic Bay Medical Center (No contact info provided) Caremax Surgical P.C. (No contact info provided) Dr. Paayal Pinky Mehta Dr. Richard Barry Rubenstein Staten Island, NY lutheran medical center (No contact info provided) George Ferzli, MD PC (No contact info provided) Dr. george salem ferzli Staten Island University Hospital 475 Seaview Avenue Staten Island, NY 10305 718-226-9000 visit website United Medical Surgical, PC 256 Mason Ave. Building b, 2nd Floor Staten Island, NY 10305 718-226-1300 visit website Dr. GENE F. COPPA Dr. HEATHER F. MCMULLEN Dr. JEFFREY M. NICASTRO White Plains, NY White Plains Hospital Center Davis Ave and East Post Road White Plains, NY 10601 914-681-0600 visit website New York Bariatrics 170 Maple Avenue Suite 204 White Plains, NY 10601 914-948-1000 visit website Dr. William P. Homan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is the link to the ACOS bariatric centers: (*there are fewer w/ this group only 1 in NY!) http://www.facs.org/viewing/cqi/bscn/fullapproval.html New York Lutheran Medical Center Brooklyn, NY Effective Date 11/8/05-11/8/08 Level 1b ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is the ins/outs of Medicare and Centers Of Excellence/WLS etc http://www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdecisionmemo.asp?id=160 Basically according to the new policy, CMS will cover methods of bariatric surgery including laparoscopic and open gastric bypass, laparoscopic gastric adjustable banding, open and laparoscopic biliopancreatic diversion and the duodenal switch. There will be no specific criteria for prior dietary weight reduction programs, recognizing that almost all surgery patients have made numerous attempts to lose weight. In addition, to optimize quality care, coverage will only be provided if bariatric surgery is performed at an ASBS/Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) Center of Excellence or American College of Surgeons (ACS) Level One Center of Excellence. According to the CMS site these are the ONLY centers (so not sure what is the most current!?) http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareApprovedFacilitie/BSF/list.asp#TopOfPage enter state to find...This is what NY gets are any in your area? Perhaps call Medicare/Medicaid to ask if one is near you!? Facility Name Date approved State Albany Medical Center 06/02/2006 NY Arnot Ogden Medical Center 02/24/2006 NY Bon Secours Community Hospital 02/24/2006 NY Lutheran Medical Center 02/24/2006 NY New York Methodist Hospital 02/24/2006 NY New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center 06/14/2006 NY Peconic Bay Medical Center 04/06/2006 NY Sisters of Charity Hospital 02/24/2006 NY Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester 02/24/2006 NY South Nassau Communities Hospital 02/24/2006 NY Staten Island University Hospital 02/24/2006 NY White Plains Hospital Center 02/24/2006 NY Data Last Updated : 07/31/2006 Wishing you well on this journey! Take Care, Jamie Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh 320/163 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery) Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/profile.php?N=c1132518510 "Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"

FYI.... Albany Medical Center just last week became a Center of Excellence.... L

It takes a while for them to get the certificate. I ended up going from Syracuse docs down to Elmira...they are a center of excellence there. I had my surgery May 12th and was very very happy with the docs and the care at the hospital.

Hi Kelly, Thank you for responding. I have a question regarding elmira? Do they do laporscopic or all open. I'd really like to do the lap. How do you feel? How much weight loss? Congradulations on having the surgery. Hope to hear from you. Tina

They do the open...the docs there say it is much more successful. I feel great....I have lost 88 1/2 lbs since May 12th. Like I said in the previous post.....Dr. Cole and his staff are great and so friendly. The staff at the hospital is very very nice and caring to its patients. I would recommend them to anyone having this surgery done. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask..... Kel

http://www.mohawk-valley-obesity-surgery-center.com/theteam.html