Obesity Treatment at HealthPartners: Adaptation of Clinical Guidelines into Systems for Practice Operations

The purpose of this paper is to describe how HealthPartners health system in Minneapolis, MN, has translated a clinical guideline for obesity among adults into an efficient care delivery practice operations system. Based on a foundation provided by the physician-led Institute of Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI)-developed Prevention and Management of Obesity for Adults Health Care Guideline, HealthPartners adapted the guideline into an electronic health record-based “Smart Set” that provides frontline physicians with the information, treatment options, and referral steps necessary to care for their patients with obesity. Additional context is provided in terms of insurance coverage and systems-based resources designed to prevent and treat obesity for adults.