Your Real, No-Nonsense Guide to Finding a Bariatric Provider Who Will Walk Alongside You
A BariNation Blog | Featuring Dr. Charles Thompson, Bariatric Surgeon, Brooklyn and Queens, NY
Let's be honest about something.
You've probably spent years, maybe decades, doing what you were told. Eating less. Moving more. Cutting carbs. Starting over on Monday. And every time the weight came back, or didn't budge at all, the message you absorbed, from the world, from a doctor who barely looked up from their clipboard, maybe even from the people who love you most, was that it was your fault.
It wasn't.
That's not an affirmation or a feel-good line. That's a medical fact. And it's the foundation of everything Dr. Charles Thompson, bariatric surgeon practicing in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, talks about in our most recent BariNation podcast episode. If you haven't listened yet, close this tab and go listen. Then come back, because we're going to give you something to actually use.
This post is your step-by-step guide to finding an obesity medicine specialist or bariatric surgeon who will treat the disease you have, not the person they assume you are.
Every word of this post is important, but let's connect you with the resources right here at the top.
We recorded a BariNation Podcast episode recently with Dr. Charles Thompson, and in that discussion, we broke down how you can find an obesity medicine specialist who gets you and the disease.
➡️ Watch this episode HERE on YouTube
➡️ Listen to this episode on Spotify HERE
➡️ Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts HERE
⬇️Click HERE to download our free, one-page guide that walks you through the steps we outline in this episode
First, Let's Get One Thing Clear: Obesity Is a Disease
The American Medical Association didn't officially recognize obesity as a medical condition until 2013. Think about that for a second. That means that the majority of doctors currently practicing medicine went through medical school when obesity was not taught as a standalone disease. They graduated. They started seeing patients. And most of them never received updated training on diagnosing or treating it.
That's not an excuse. But it explains why so many of us have sat in exam rooms for years and never once been handed a referral to someone who could actually help.
Obesity is a chronic, progressive disease. "Chronic" means it doesn't go away. "Progressive" means that without active treatment and ongoing management, it gets worse over time. It has biological roots, genetic components, environmental triggers, and neurological drivers that no amount of willpower can simply override. Technology has also dramatically outpaced our biology, Dr. Thompson points out. A hundred years ago, most people spent their days in physical motion just to survive. Today, you can work, eat, socialize, and shop without ever leaving your couch. Our bodies haven't had time to adapt to that. Evolution takes millennia. Amazon Prime does not.
The "just eat less and move more" advice isn't just unhelpful. For many people with obesity, it's physiologically inadequate. And it has caused immeasurable harm.
You deserve care that starts from that truth.
Why Finding the Right Provider Feels So Hard
Here's something that might surprise you. When April sat down with Dr. Thompson before recording this episode, they went to the websites where patients are supposed to find bariatric providers. And Dr. Thompson, a practicing bariatric surgeon with over a decade of experience, was not listed.
That's the system you're navigating.
The directories are incomplete. They're not updated consistently. There's no governing body making sure every qualified provider is findable. And even when providers do appear on those sites, the listings tell you almost nothing about who they actually are as a doctor or whether they're the right fit for you.
On top of that, the people who most need to send you to a specialist, your primary care physicians, often don't know how to have that conversation. Dr. Thompson explains it this way: obesity only became a recognized medical condition 12 years ago. Most medical schools still don't teach it as a standalone disease process. So providers who don't refer you to an obesity specialist aren't necessarily being dismissive. They may simply have never been taught that it's their lane to navigate.
The result? Most patients are left to find their own way. And without the right tools, that search can feel overwhelming, isolating, and defeating before it even starts.
That changes right now.
The 4 Things You Should Leave This Post Knowing
Dr. Thompson and April structured this episode and this guide around four concrete outcomes. Here's what we want you to walk away with.
1. What to Look For in an Obesity Medicine Provider
Here's the first thing Dr. Thompson says that most people don't expect to hear: don't start with the letters after the name.
Credentials matter. A Fellowship with the ASMBS (American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) tells you that a provider has pursued advanced training and is actively engaged in the field. An MD or DO tells you they completed medical school. A board certification in obesity medicine tells you they've pursued specialized knowledge in treating the disease. Those are meaningful signals.
But they tell you nothing about whether this person will actually listen to you.
What you want to read, before you read anything else, is the paragraph beneath the name. The bio. The "philosophy of care" section. The "about me." Because that's where you find out whether this provider sees their patients as whole human beings or as problems to be solved. Do they talk about long-term relationships? Do they mention meeting patients where they are? Do they use language that acknowledges the emotional weight people carry into that first appointment?
Dr. Thompson also says something every provider should hear: when a patient shows up to that first appointment, they have already broken through enormous personal, emotional, and social barriers just to walk through the door. Many have been living with this disease for 10 to 13 years before they talk to anyone about it. Some have been pushed back by family members who meant well. Some have been shamed by providers who didn't understand the disease. Most have internalized a message that their struggle is their own failure.
The right provider knows all of that the moment you sit down. And the first thing they should do is congratulate you for being there.
2. Where to Look
Start with people, not websites.
The single most reliable way to find a good bariatric provider, according to Dr. Thompson, is word of mouth. If you know someone who has had bariatric surgery or is working with an obesity medicine specialist, start there. Ask them whether they felt heard. Ask if their provider explained the disease rather than just the procedure. Ask if they'd go back.
Dr. Maria Kurian, past president of ASMBS, has shared that roughly 90% of her patients came to her because another patient referred them. That's not a coincidence. That's trust in action.
If you don't have that personal connection, here's where to search:
BariNation is your first stop. The community and the podcast catalog connect you with vetted providers who have publicly committed to treating obesity as a disease and walking alongside patients for the long haul. Start with the episode archive. Get to know these providers as people before you ever make an appointment. That's what this podcast exists for.
ASMBS (asmbs.org) maintains a Find a Provider directory of surgeons and bariatric specialists.
The Obesity Action Coalition (obesityaction.org) and the Obesity Medicine Association offer searchable provider directories as well.
Your insurance card is also a tool. Call the member services number on the back and ask specifically for obesity medicine specialists and bariatric surgeons who are in-network. Get that list. Then cross-reference it with the communities above.
A word of caution about general social media forums: Dr. Thompson puts it kindly. The information on unmoderated Facebook groups and Instagram comments is often inaccurate, sometimes harmful, and almost always skewed toward the dramatic. Everything shared in the BariNation community is vetted and peer-reviewed. That is the difference between misinformation and actual patient support.
3. What to Ask at Your First Appointment
Here is the most important thing to know about your first consultation with an obesity medicine provider or bariatric surgeon: no decision has to be made that day.
You are not there to commit. You are there to gather information, to be heard, and to evaluate whether this is a person you want in your corner for a lifelong health journey. Think of it like trying on a pair of jeans. You wouldn't buy them if they didn't fit right. Same energy.
The two questions Dr. Thompson says every provider should be asking you first are: "Why are you here?" and "How can I help you?"
If a provider jumps straight to handing you a pamphlet about surgical options without first asking you what your life has been like, that's information. If a provider makes you feel like a checklist rather than a person, that's information too.
Here are the questions you can bring into that first appointment:
How do you approach obesity as a disease? Do you treat it as a chronic condition that requires long-term management, or as a problem that surgery or medication will resolve?
What does follow-up care look like with you and your team? Will I have consistent access to support after treatment begins?
What are all the treatment options available to me, and how will we decide together which one to pursue?
What does your team look like? Who else will I be working with beyond you?
What happens if my condition changes or I need to revisit my treatment plan?
You are interviewing them as much as they are evaluating you. That is exactly how it should work.
4. It Is Okay to Leave If It Isn't Working
This one is important enough to say twice.
If you go to an appointment and walk out feeling dismissed, unheard, or like just another patient to move through the schedule, you are allowed to not go back. You are allowed to try a different provider. You are allowed to keep looking until you find the person who treats the whole you, disease and all.
That is not giving up. That is not failure. That is you exercising your agency as a patient and a person who knows what kind of care you need and deserve.
Dr. Thompson is unambiguous about this: treating obesity requires a provider who can truly listen and connect with their patients. That capacity is not optional. It is a mandate. The data are clear: when patients feel heard and understood, their outcomes are better and last longer. Finding a provider who brings that is not a luxury. It is a prerequisite.
The Part Nobody Wants to Talk About: Access vs. Utilization
Having insurance coverage for bariatric surgery or obesity medication is not the same as being able to use it.
This is one of the most important and least discussed realities of obesity care in the United States, and Dr. Thompson breaks it down with precision.
Medicare and most Medicaid plans cover bariatric surgery. Coverage for obesity medications through these programs is more limited, though it's slowly improving, particularly for patients managing diabetes or sleep apnea alongside obesity.
Private insurance is where it gets complicated. Many private plans do offer coverage for bariatric surgery. Some also cover obesity medications. But within those plans, there are often sub-plans, typically employer-chosen, that exclude obesity treatment entirely. Your employer may have opted out of that coverage without you ever knowing. That's why you can have insurance, qualify for treatment, and still be denied.
April shares her own family's experience in this episode: her husband, who has class 3 obesity (a BMI of 40 or above, which means significant, medically documented excess weight that puts multiple body systems at risk) with multiple related health conditions, has been denied twice for a surgery he has coverage for. The denial reason? Not medically necessary. Despite his doctor calling it medically necessary. Despite the disease actively affecting his ability to work.
🚨 Nearly 25% of bariatric surgery patients are denied coverage up to three times before eventual approval. That is not a glitch. That is a system.
Here's what you can do if you face a denial:
1️⃣ Request the denial reason in writing. You need to understand exactly what the insurance company claims is missing before you can address it.
2️⃣ Work with your care team on a coordinated response. Dr. Thompson and providers like Dr. Joe Cribbins, April's husband's surgeon in Texas, go to the mat for their patients. Multiple specialists documenting the medical necessity from different angles, your surgeon, your cardiologist, your endocrinologist, makes it significantly harder for an insurer to hold the line.
3️⃣ Write a personal letter. Your story matters. Put it in writing. Describe how the disease is affecting your daily life, your ability to work, your mental health, your relationships. Insurance reviewers are making decisions from a checklist, and your letter is how you become a person instead of a claim number.
4️⃣ Bring your community with you. The BariNation membership community has helped patients draft appeal letters, understand the appeals process, and find the energy to keep going when the fight feels impossible. You don't have to do this alone.
The system is broken. We know that. But until federal mandates require equal coverage for obesity treatment the way they do for heart disease, which affects 5% of adults compared to the 40 to 45% living with obesity, patients have to fight. And we will fight with you.
What Dr. Thompson Wants Every Doctor to Hear
If any healthcare provider, primary care physician, internist, cardiologist, or anyone in any specialty, is reading this, here is what Dr. Thompson asks of you:
Physicians are still among the most trusted voices in their patients' lives. That trust is leverage. Use it.
You don't have to be an obesity specialist to make a difference. All it takes is looking at a patient who has struggled for years and saying: "I see you. I don't think this is your fault. I think you may have a disease called obesity, and I want to connect you with someone who can help."
That referral, made in the right moment with the right words, is what changes the trajectory of a life. April says if any one of her primary care providers had done that in the years she spent fighting her weight, she would have called the specialist before she got to the parking lot. That's how much it matters.
If you were trained before 2013, obesity probably wasn't taught as a standalone disease in your curriculum. That's not your fault. But now you know. And knowing means you have the opportunity to do something about it.
A Word to You, If You're Still on the Fence
If you've been struggling with your weight for a long time, if diets have come and gone, if your health has been declining even while you've been trying everything, if you're tired of being told to try harder: you more than likely have the disease of obesity. And it can be treated.
You don't have to have this figured out before you make an appointment. You don't have to know whether you want surgery, medication, or a combination of both. You don't have to have the perfect words. You just have to show up.
Because here's the other thing Dr. Thompson said in this episode that stopped April in her tracks after over 300 conversations on this podcast: your friends and family who tell you that you don't need to do anything, that you're beautiful the way you are, that they love you no matter what? They are right. They do love you. They just don't know that trying to protect you from feeling bad is making it harder for you to get well.
You can hold both of those truths at the same time. You are loved AND you deserve care. Those are not in conflict.
The people who have already stepped into treatment are the pioneers. They are changing how this disease gets talked about, funded, and treated. Dr. Thompson made the comparison that stopped us cold: obesity may be the cancer of the 21st century. Cancer research took off in the early 20th century because of one family, one story, one moment that lit the fire. We are still waiting for that moment for obesity. But the wave is building. And every time a patient says "I have a disease and I'm treating it," the wave gets bigger.
Be part of that wave.
Your Next Steps (Start Here)
Step 1: Talk to someone in your life who has sought treatment for obesity. Ask who helped them and whether they'd recommend that person.
Step 2: Call the member services number on the back of your insurance card. Ask specifically for in-network obesity medicine specialists and bariatric surgeons.
Step 3: Cross-reference that list with BariNation, ASMBS (asmbs.org), and the Obesity Action Coalition (obesityaction.org).
Step 4: Look up a few providers. Read the bio, not just the credentials. Read the paragraph that tells you who they are, not just what they can do.
Step 5: Book a consultation. Go in with your questions. Remember: no decision has to be made that day.
Step 6: If it doesn't feel right, try another provider. Keep going until you find your person.
Step 7: Come to BariNation. We are here for every step of this, before the appointment, during the process, after treatment begins, and for every moment in between.
The free printable guide that walks you through this process step by step is available HERE. Download it. Use it. Share it with someone who needs it.
Connect with Dr. Charles Thompson
Dr. Thompson practices bariatric surgery in Brooklyn and Queens, New York. He is a fellow of ASMBS and a champion for patients in communities disproportionately affected by obesity.
Follow him on Instagram
Website: BrooklynQueensSurgical.com Find him on ASMBS: asmbs.org Support
A Note About BariNation
BariNation is a nonprofit podcast and patient community built on the belief that obesity is a disease and that every person fighting it deserves education, community, and care. If this post helped you, consider supporting our mission at BariNation.org/donate. Your support makes conversations like this one possible.
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