Unlocking Cost-Efficient Care: Telehealth solution for costly co-morbidities and sleep disorders
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most prevalent form of sleep apnea, affects over 30 million people in the US. Did you know that approximately 80% of those suffering from this sleep disorder remain undiagnosed? The strain of undiagnosed sleep conditions poses a significant challenge for the healthcare system, leading to untreated health conditions and escalating financial costs. Sleep apnea's severe comorbidities are estimated to cost approximately $150 billion annually, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), highlighting the importance of early detection and treatment of sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea and Hospital Readmission Rates
Sleep apnea occurs when the upper airways become blocked, causing breathing to stop and start intermittently throughout the night, leading to a drop in oxygen levels, increased heart rate, and high blood pressure. In addition to diabetes and hypertension, sleep apnea increases the risk of Afib and other heart conditions. The connection between sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease is particularly significant, as between 40% and 80% of the 92 million people who suffer from cardiovascular disease also suffer from sleep apnea, according to the American Heart Association.
Hospital readmission rates are a crucial indicator of the quality of patient care. However, it is essential to note the significant expenses of readmissions. HealthStream states these expenses can cost as much as $26 billion annually. The most common conditions linked with hospital readmissions include cardiac dysrhythmias, COPD, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia, all of which are comorbidities of OSA. By treating sleep apnea first, you can also address potentially severe comorbidities, all of which have costly hospital readmission rates.
Inadequate Conventional Pathways of Care
The complexities of managing sleep apnea go beyond navigating multiple co-existing health issues. The conventional pathway to treatment often starts with a visit to the PCP, then continues with additional appointments with sleep specialists and a DME provider, and then back to the PCP. If there are other comorbidities, there could be visits to specialists. This game of medical whack–a–mole leads to long appointment wait times, multiple co-pays, and a drop in compliance rates for those who make it to diagnosis and treatment. This increases the healthcare system's economic burden without improving patient outcomes.
The Cost Efficiency of Multidisciplinary Care
Advocates have long urged team-based care to reduce fragmentation in the sleep health system. Creating multidisciplinary sleep centers would exploit the expertise of a diverse group of medical providers, including ENTs, pulmonologists, endocrinologists, and cardiologists. This collaborative approach would reduce the replication of services while treating the underlying sleep apnea and its critical comorbidities, resulting in a higher standard of healthcare with cost savings to both patients and AOCs.
Telehealth: Simplified Cost-Effective Care
The challenges to screening, diagnosing, and treating OSA have been the lack of an all-encompassing sleep care solution that is both efficient and cost-effective. BetterNight offers a comprehensive program that takes the patient from initial screening to diagnosis and treatment, all through the convenience of a virtual solution. This community of care connects all the medical specialists needed to treat the disease's prevalent severe comorbidities while achieving significant cost savings throughout the healthcare system.
Talk to a BetterNight sleep specialist to learn how patient-centered telehealth can improve outcomes while reducing costs across all points of service.