My Weight Loss Journey

Summary: My Weight Loss Journey (MWLJ) is a patient-facing mobile application that provides tailored risk and benefit estimates for bariatric surgery treatment options. MWLJ also provides patients with the ability to track their weight loss and to establish and maintain longitudinal relationships with their care team with the goal of cultivating accountability and decreasing the incidence of weight regain after surgery.

Functionality: MWLJ uses a proprietary risk/benefit calculator developed by researchers at the University of Michigan and based on data from past patients. The following information is entered in a survey form by the user to generate the estimates: age, gender, height, weight, race, insurance type, preferred procedure type, mobility status, smoking history, and current medication use. This information is used to generate risk and benefit graphs for each of two main procedure types (sleeve gastrectomy and roux-en-y gastric bypass). The types of risks presented by the app include minor complications (wound infection, pneumonia, UTI, etc.) and serious complications (leak, abscess, reoperations, etc.). The types of benefits presented include weight loss and resolution of comorbidities following surgery. Additional functionality upon survey completion includes a detailed description and typical pre- and post-operative timelines for each surgical procedure type, information about how to manage life after surgery, as well as the opportunity to compare the risks and benefits of one procedure type against those of the other.

Additional Features: Additional features upon survey completion include access to video testimonials from former patients on their lives before and after surgery, a personalized check-in portal where patients can log back into the app and track their weight loss, and email messages encouraging patients to return to the app at various times throughout their post-operative journey. These messages highlight important topics to help manage potential concerns about weight loss treatment.

MWLJ was developed by the University of Michigan, with funding from its Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and in conjunction with the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative (MBSC), a Blue Cross Blue Shield/ Blue Care Network of Michigan-sponsored consortium of bariatric surgeons and hospitals across the state of Michigan. MBSC aims to advance the science and practice of bariatric surgery in Michigan and across the U.S. The program is a unique partnership among Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan, University of Michigan researchers, and clinicians from the 43 bariatric surgery programs across the state.