The Advanced Obesity Surgery Center: Our Process

A health condition such as severe obesity has a very significant impact on your ability to get through each day. We understand that you have not been able to achieve the weight loss goal you strive for from dieting, medication management, or exercise. Bariatric surgery is a “tool” that has been proven to help people lose substantial amounts of weight when used appropriately along with healthy food choices, proper vitamins and exercise. Surgery can help when you've exhausted every other method, and you reach the point where you know you can't do it by yourself.

Beginning The Process:

One of the keys to success in bariatric surgery involves careful preparation. The first step is to contact our office to arrange to come to a free information session to learn more about our program and our approach to weight loss surgery.

We then have you fill out a few pages of information about you, and we'll then make sure you're an appropriate candidate for our program. Then when you come in for your office visit, we'll look at your particular situation and work with you to determine which operation would be most appropriate for you.

Insurance Plans:

We accept all PPO and POS plans with appropriate out of network bariatric surgery benefits, whether we are in or out of network. We are now in-network with the following plans:

Evolutions Health Care Systems
Galaxy Heatlh Network PPO
Health One Alliance PPO
Humana Health Care Plans of Georgia PPO
Humana WellStar Employee Plan
Lifewell Health Partners PPO
Nova Net/Special Net
PHCS EPO/POS/Open Access
PHCS PPO

We accept all others who have appropriate out-of-network benefits. We are in the process of becoming in-network with many more insurance companies. Please call our office to find out more.

Safety and Quality:

We focus on safety and quality with each patient, rather than generating an extremely high volume of patients. Your operation is given the necessary time and attention to best provide successful outcomes. We believe that it is our attention to detail along with the medical information we obtain prior to surgery that has been an important factor in maintaining our excellent safety record. Long-term, high quality follow-up is essential to your success with Bariatric Surgery. Follow-up care is extremely important for all Bariatric procedures, especially the Duodenal Switch Procedure.

Out-Of-State Patients:

We have a program that will allow us to include your pre-operative visit, surgery and one week post-op appointment all within in one trip. You would complete your pre-operative clearances and studies in your home-town, and then you could come for surgery and stay in the Atlanta area for about 2 weeks total. Please call us for questions about this.

For our Out of State and long-distance patients, we offer:

Easy Travel: Marietta, Georgia is a suburb of Atlanta, and is easy to travel to, with the multitude of flights that utilize Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.
One-Visit Surgery - As described above.
A multitiude of bariatric-friendly hotels in the immediate area with reclining chairs, suites, extended-stay rates, etc.
Great shopping, restaurants, theaters, and malls in close proximity.
The quality of a Certified Center of Excellence in Bariatric Surgery.

Self-Pay Patients:

If you do not have insurance benefits that cover bariatric surgery and wish to proceed on a self pay basis, you won't be delayed by having to wait to obtain insurance approval. We can schedule your initial appointment with Dr. Smith within a short period of time after you attend the informational session and once he has determined you are an appropriate candidate as stated above. You will be provided with additional information regarding your financial responsibility at the initial appointment. Even though your insurance may not cover the actual surgery it may cover consultant visits required to obtain surgery based on your co-morbid condition.

If you plan on being a self-paying patient, we offer:

Accelerated Service - You don't have to wait for insurance approval.
Competitive Pricing - We have financing options we can help you with.
One-Visit Surgery - We can arrange to proceed with your surgery with only one visit to Atlanta, staying in our area for approximately two weeks including the post-operative week.
A Commitment to Follow-Up - We will be involved with your follow-up care for the rest of your life. Long-term, high quality follow-up care is extremely important for all bariatric procedures, especially the Duodenal Switch.

Dr. Smith and Dr. Jean-Pierre operate at WellStar's Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, Georgia. Dr. Smith serves as Medical Director of WellStar’s Bariatric Surgery Program. Kennestone Hospital has again been selected as a "Top 100" Hospital in the United States.

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For any questions, comments, or to begin the process, you can contact us:
Phone: 770-919-7050
Fax: 770-919-7051
Toll-Free: 1-866-535-0966
or email us at:
inquiries@advancedobesitysurgery.com

©Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved.
WellStar Comprehensive Bariatric Services
A Certified Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence
Marietta, Georgia, USA