A Group Visit Model Integrating Medications, Nutrition, and Behavioral Change To Treat Obesity

Pharmacotherapy for obesity has a long and storied history. Currently there are only 2 medications approved by the FDA for long‐term management of obesity, both have modest average weight loss, and both work best in combination with behavioral/nutrition/activity interventions. Integrating pharmacotherapy into clinical care in a cost‐effective manner that supports behavioral/lifestyle intervention and maintains patient involvement and satisfaction has remained a challenge. Sibutramine is a centrally acting serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor that primarily acts as an appetite suppressant. Integrating sibutramine into a medication group visit clinic will be presented as a model for the use of weight loss medications in the clinic setting. Using the RE‐AIM model, data on: Reach, Efficacy (weight loss and change in co‐morbidities), Adoption/Implementation (process mapping of the clinic flow, curriculum), and Maintenance (patient involvement and satisfaction and cost) will be discussed. A group visit model is an ideal setting for integrating obesity pharmacotherapy into the clinic in a cost effective high quality manner that also addresses patient satisfaction.