Bariatrics

While the number of overweight and obese people in the United States continues to increase — in a 2024 article, the Lancet warned that 213 million adults and more than 43 million children and young adults ages 5 to 24 years are expected to be overweight or obese by 2050 — education on specific considerations…

I’m thrilled that Mobility Management is now publishing quarterly newsletters to focus on specific topics within Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) — and we’re kicking off the series with bariatric mobility. Given all the different specialties within CRT, why bariatrics? One reason is the relative scarcity — it seems to me, anyway — of bariatric mobility…

It’s all about access, engineering … and physics. The spring 2024 coding and funding decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for power seat elevation was a textbook case of good news and bad news. The good news: CMS, citing how seat elevation can support and facilitate transfers and reaching tasks, affirmed…

Perhaps the most significant misconception that bariatric mobility clients — and their seating teams — must face is the misconception that higher body weights simply require wheelchairs with higher weight capacities and wider seats. A second misconception: Seating clients with body weights in the bariatric range are all similar to each other, and their weight…

Kalogon has expanded the sizes available for its Orbiter Med wheelchair seat cushion, which features a customized cross-linked foam base topped with a viscoelastic foam layer, the company’s Advanced Pressure Management System, and a four-way-stretch, fluid-resistant cover. In a March 18 news announcement, Kalogon, based in Melbourne, Florida, said the additional sizing would “expand accessibility…

Dynarex also seeks to facilitate quicker provision of heavy-duty equipment.

Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) success often depends on a product’s ability to accommodate the needs of a particular client. Mobile shower commode chairs aren’t always a highly customizable category of CRT, and in the bariatric space, even fewer choices have been available. But Raz Design’s new bariatric line could have you rethinking what to expect…

Bariatric clients often have had limited custom seating options to choose from.

Bariatric clients need seating & wheeled mobility options with higher weight capacities — but those clients also present a range of unique clinical needs and challenges that impact equipment choices.

The category names themselves might sound fairly generic, but the HCPCS list of codes is actually very precise in defining standard mobility products and those designed and built for higher weight capacities: Standard: Weight capacity up to and including 300 lbs. Heavy Duty: From 301 through 450 lbs. Very Heavy Duty: From 451 through 600…