Weight loss surgery is a big part of a patient’s life, and chances of success from their surgery are enhanced when they are educated and supported. By writing articles, you are providing that important education and support that will make a long-lasting difference to them in their weight loss surgery journey.

Since ObesityHelp.com was founded in 1998, over 700,000 people have become registered members of our site. Each week, the site has over 3,000,000 page-views from people looking for education and support along their weight loss surgery journey.

If this is something you, or a member of your staff, would be interested in, we would feature an original article by you front and center on the ObesityHelp home page, as well as publish it in our weekly community newsletter! On top of that, you will also benefit from extra time in the spotlight as each of our articles are shared on ObesityHelp.com’s Facebook (over 13,000 fans) and Twitter (4,500 followers) accounts. Some articles may also be shared with social discovery sites such as Stumbleupon, Pinterest, Digg, etc. We also periodically re-share articles so potential patients, and new pre-op and post-op community members can benefit from your articles. We have an experienced staff that conducts focused key words searches and other search engine optimization on your article.

We have compiled a list of topics based on member questions and concerns, searches from Google Analytics and member requests to us. If you are interested in ObesityHelp featuring you and your article, please email us at articles@obesityhelp.com for more information!

First, make sure you are logged into your Facebook and/or Twitter account.  Next, log into your ObesityHelp for Professionals account.  Now you’re ready to share your patients’ great surgical experience!

Share Patient Reviews on Facebook and Twitter

1.  Under the “Manage” tab drop down bar, click on REVIEWS

2.  On the review(s) you want to share on your social media, all you need to do is click on the Facebook and Twitter share icons.

That’s all you need to do!

Optional – If you’d like to add a comment, you can.  Make your comment in the “Say something more about this” area and close.  Your comment along with a link to the review will be posted on your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts.

For any questions or assistance you’d like: Call us at 1-866-957-4636, option 1

Photo credit:  Jason Howle cc

Be Visible, Utilize Your OH Profile

For 17 years, prospective patients have visited ObesityHelp for peer-to-peer forums, inspirational before and after photos, surgeon reviews and real success stories! By establishing your presence on ObesityHelp, your practice will be a valuable resource during this crucial research phase of the journey. Bariatric surgery candidates need to know what they can expect when they choose you as part of their bariatric care team. Prospective WLS pre-ops genuinely wanting to make good decisions about their lives and bodies will search out and prioritize information from reputable sources.

You can utilize ObesityHelp for Professionals to add all of the information patients need right onto your professional profile. You can add comprehensive background information, website and social links, updates about your practice, support group and seminar information and a visual testimonial through inspiring Before & After photos. In addition, word-of-mouth reviews are potentially the most valuable resource for obtaining new patients. Your patients can leave their personal reviews right on your profile. People connect with stories, spoken or written, that convey a truly personal experience. For those who are morbidly obese, reading about success stories from their peers can be empowering and provides hope that they can one day achieve the same level of success.

Patients are able to track their weight beginning with their pre-operative visit and at every visit thereafter through ObesityHelp’s weight loss tracker. When patients return to our clinic for a post-operative visit, they are given a copy of their current weight analysis. We then encourage them to load this information into the tracker. The easy-to-use graphic visualization allows patients to view their overall weight loss progression.

The weight loss tracker not only motivates the new WLS patient, but is also beneficial to the WLS patient who has hit a plateau and has come to you for support. Our staff suggests this tool, along with the use of food and exercise journals, as a way to help get the patient back on track. Following surgery, it is vital for exercise to become part of the patient’s everyday lifestyle. We all know that exercise is an important part of the patient’s overall success, and that the surgery will help limit food intake.

The patient should also be encouraged to become accountable for making good choices. Tracking weight loss is one of the simplest ways for patients to reflect on and reinforce their new behaviors. ObesityHelp’s weight loss tracker shows patients the success those behaviors have brought them.

Using OH’s weight loss tracker, in combination with exercise and making the right nutritional choices, can improve patient outcomes, encourage patient compliance and make plateaus shorter and less stressful.

Jeremy Korman, MD, FACS, is a practicing bariatric surgeon in Marina Del Rey, CA. This article originally appeared in ObesityHelp’s magazine Bariatrics Today Issue 2.

Dr. Jeremy KormanBariatric Surgeonhttp://labariatriccenter.com – LA Bariatric Center