weight loss and other physicians

I can't help but to write about this subject again, as yesterday I had the chance to visit a very large cardiology group in the area. Excellent physicians...great reputation. Our reason for the visit was to inform them more about our weight loss program and how we can help their patients lessen their risks for another heart event or protect them against their first.

In house, I found that their focus on weight loss was pretty much non-existent...they obviosuly tell their patients who are overweight to lose that weight, but they really have no formal way of helping them. This is a group of over 15 doctors seeing hundreds of patients per day. Of these patient encounters, I would bet that many of the patients are overweight and their chances of living longer would be significantly enhanced by the loss of weight. Yet, this group, like every other group, really has no formal mechanism in place to help them. Hence, the reason why I visitied for lunch yesterday...to offer them our services.

Why is it that physicians do not offer formal weight loss services inhouse? I think the reasons are many but they certainly include the fact that insurance companies do not recognize this type of service and physicians are being killed by the ever-declining managed care rates, and they cannot possibly fund a nutritional consultant, prolonged visits focusing on diet etc.

If we could get a handle on the obesity crisis in America, we would have billions of dollars of less healthcare expenditures per year. Physicians, who are best positioned to help patients, are hardly involved in this process. There is something very wrong with this picture. Great weight loss programs such as ours (hmmm..i just patted my own back) should not be only available to people who can afford it. However, physicians who rely on managed care reimbursement for their services are completely "de" insentivized to spend more time with patients on preventative care measures...and therefore they dont get involved. Your thoughts?