[6] The ASMBS is also an advocate for healthcare policy to promote patient access to high quality prevention and treatment of obesity.

Its founding president was Edward Eaton Mason, MD, a surgeon who is considered the "father" of bariatric or obesity surgery.

The scientific and educational conference drew clinicians and scientists from all over the world to review and discuss new data on the full spectrum of the disease of obesity.

[17] In 2006, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) established a national coverage policy for bariatric/metabolic surgery to help reduce health risks associated with obesity, including death and disability, as long as the procedures were performed at facilities certified by the AMBS or the American College of Surgeons.

[21] Certification indicates nurses have met all testing requirements and have proven to be competent in the care of obese and bariatric surgery patients.