Insurance-mandated preoperative diet and outcomes after bariatric surgery

Despite a lack of demonstrated patient benefit, many insurance providers mandate a physician-supervised diet before financial coverage for bariatric surgery. To compare weight loss between patients with versus without insurance mandating a preoperative diet. University hospital, United States. Retrospective study of all patients who underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy over a 5-year period, stratified based on whether an insurance-mandated physician-supervised diet was required. Weight loss outcomes at 6, 12, and 24 months postoperation were compared. Linear mixed-models and backward-stepwise selection were used. P