Ideal Protein Responds to Findings that Overweight Patients are Not Hearing Counseling on Weight Loss from Their Physicians
Physicians Encouraged to Address Obesity Epidemic with Patient Counseling and Support Programs
GATINEAU, Quebec--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ideal Protein called today for physicians to address the obesity epidemic by talking to their overweight or obese patients about weight loss programs.
The call to action came following the June announcement of findings from a Nielsen Strategic Health Perspectives survey sponsored by the Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP), an affiliate of the American Medical Group Association Foundation and a coalition of visionary medical group and health system leaders. Among other findings about how patients are experiencing healthcare today, the study found a significant gap around weight management; physicians’ efforts on counseling patients on preventive health, including weight loss for obese or overweight patients, are not being heard.
The survey found that while 52 percent of physicians report that they recommend that patients enroll in a weight loss program, only 5 percent of those patients polled say they heard this message. Additionally, 90 percent of physicians report recommending better eating habits, while only 19 percent of patients say their doctors gave them that advice. With 70 percent of adults in the U.S. overweight or obese according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,1 this means that only one in 14 of these overweight individuals is getting or hearing weight loss advice from their physician.
Douglas W. Rothrock, M.D. is familiar with these survey results. As a board certified cardiologist, founder of Prescott Cardiology in Arizona, Let’s Get Healthy 4 You weight loss center, and Senior Medical Advisor at Ideal Protein, he counsels patients on weight loss on a daily basis as part of a healthy lifestyle approach to wellness.
He said, “With our nation experiencing an obesity epidemic, it is my opinion that it has become a physician’s responsibility to be proactive and advise their overweight patients how to effectively and safely lose weight. Cardiologists are leaders in prevention and are the natural messengers, along with other physicians and medical practitioners. In my practice, I have decided to explain the critical need for maintaining a healthy weight. By counseling my patients on weight loss, I can help them to potentially avoid chronic illnesses and live longer lives, not just treat their symptoms.”
Dr. Rothrock also noted, “While physicians may not think they have the time to actively work with patients on their weight loss efforts, there are structured programs with safe, science-based approaches to losing weight with which the practice can collaborate to give the patients the day-to-day counseling and support they need to be successful.”
Obesity is now recognized as a disease by the American Medical Association,2 and physicians are urged to manage it like any other chronic illness. In fact, physicians are increasingly hearing the guidance that weight loss counseling must be part of their practice to help patients decrease the risk for chronic conditions associated with excess weight, including: Type 2 diabetes; high blood pressure; early mortality; stroke risk; cancer incidence in women; degenerative joint disease; joint pain and immobility; sleep apnea;3 non-alcoholic fatty liver disease4 and metabolic syndrome.5 Additionally, pay-for-value incentives have made screening for body mass index (or BMI) and counseling for weight management a standard for reimbursement.6
Ideal Protein is committed to helping physicians counsel their patients about weight loss to reduce the risks associated with many chronic illnesses. Doctors report that while utilizing the Ideal Protein Weight Loss Method, as their patients lose weight they see reductions in conditions associated with weight such as hypertension, insulin imbalance, and other heart and health risks.7
Click to read research presented at Cleveland Clinic and National Obesity Conferences about changes in patient health metrics with weight loss.
To see how physicians and other healthcare practitioners are helping their patients lose weight, click here.
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