Summary

Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, many hospitals were lured into the weight loss field, tempted by potentially lucrative income and profits. No new weight loss centers had to be built - the facility and space (and staff) was already there, frequently underutilized. For a while, when liquid fasting was booming, many hospitals did fare quite well. However, when that boom came to a halt in 1991-92, hospitals found that diet programs were no longer profitable, and they had to work harder to attract clients. Marketing was not a skill they were accustomed to, or at which they were especially adept.

Consequently, in the past many hospitals have been discouraged with weight loss programs based at their facilities, because insurance did not cover it, unless directly related to another medical condition. That has changed, with new IRS allowances for deductions related to both commercial and medical weight loss programs.

But, they have not left entirely. Rather, they’ve shifted to alternative formats (syndicated programs such as The "LEARN" Program For Weight Control, low-cost counseling programs developed by the hospital -- plans involving low overhead, where they can use existing hospital resources and staff to perform marketing and record-keeping functions more cost-effectively).

Of the approximately 4,900 community hospitals in the United States, BestDietForMe.com estimates that approximately 60% offer some form of weight loss program--or about 2,949 community hospitals.

Based on interviews with hospital staff and the medically monitored program providers, it seems that hospital weight loss programs can be classified into one of three groups, with varying prices, as follows:

The least expensive and simplest kind of program, generally priced at $80-200 for a 6-14 week plan. Bestdietforme.com best estimate is that about 2,211 hospitals (the majority, 75%) offer this type of low-involvement, low-cost program. We think this type of program has become more popular since the early 1990s. Of this total, several hundred facilities use the LEARN Education Center’s program for weight control, or the Providence Heart Diet.

This consists of counseling classes or offering a program licensed from one of the major commercial diet chains such as Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc., or a program developed by the hospital itself. This type program uses special foods or entrees, but not a very-low-calorie fasting diet. In this program, strict weekly check-ups by a physician are not required. This program is estimated to cost about $60/week for 18 weeks, or a total of $1,000.  BestDietForMe.com estimates that about 338 hospitals offer this type of weight loss program (or 11% of U.S. hospitals).

This is the most costly variation of hospital-based diet program, involving a liquid protein diet, medically monitored weekly, with lab tests--offered through one of the major vendors such as Novartis Nutrition (Optifast), HMR, etc. Bestdietforme.com estimates that about 400 hospitals now offer this type program, which typically costs $2,300-2,500. This is down substantially from the estimated 730 hospitals offering this type of diet plan in late 1993. This is due to the fact that Redux and the phen-fen plan were wildly popular in 1996-97, and hurt enrollments in these programs substantially. However, fasting programs are returning to popularity once again.

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Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center

Johns Hopkins Greenspring Station

2360 W. Joppa Road

Lutherville, MD 21093

410-847-3733

The Johns Hopkins Weight Management program has three levels of care. They are as follows:

This program is for moderately overweight individuals. The program includes private weekly lifestyle counseling sessions with a registered dietitian and/or psychologist and/or exercise psychologist. The cost is $25.00-$50.00 per visit after modified evaluations* are complete.

This program is for moderately or significantly overweight individuals. This program includes a comprehensive, low-calorie three-phase treatment plan including nutritional supplements. The cost for this program is $25.00 - $50.00 per visit plus cost of the supplement (approximately $44/week) after evaluations* and individual follow-up sessions are complete.

The evaluations for Level I and Level II consist of:

Palos Community Hospital