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New Research Validates Innovative Diagnostic Testing Approach to Sleep Apnea Patient Care Within the Veterans Affairs Health System

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 July 2006, 09:00 CDT

ANNAPOLIS, Md., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has solved a serious problem. A newly published research study by a Minnesota VA hospital reported that the demand for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) diagnostic testing services has jumped over 540 percent since 2001.

Yet, the study reported that this massive jump in diagnostic testing services was met with a mere 63 percent increase in total expenditures and a dramatic 70 percent reduction in testing unit costs. More importantly, the researchers reported that this innovative diagnostic testing process was able to achieve equivalent patient outcomes when compared to the traditional, more expensive method of testing for OSA.

The VA hospital was able to meet this explosive surge by adopting an innovative testing process using portable sleep studies and auto titration Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices used in the home in lieu of the standard polysomnography (PSG) and CPAP titration tests conducted in sleep lab facilities. The Minnesota study is the first to formally document the outcomes and financial savings that VA Medical Centers across the country have been experiencing since adopting this approach to the growing problem of OSA several years ago.

Sleep Solutions, Inc. (SSI) is the largest and only national provider of this service to the VA health system and has been providing these services to the VA since 2001. Over 11,000 patients have been successfully tested at home with SSI's NovaSom(R) QSG(R) electronically attended diagnostic system, delivered directly to patients via an innovative patient management network called MediTrack(R). The rate of OSA diagnostic test completion has exceeded 98 percent, compared with less than the 75 percent rate that is typical for in-lab testing. Patient satisfaction has been greater than 95 percent, and the results of SSI's diagnostic tests can be communicated to patients by their primary physicians without referral to sleep medicine specialists.

"Sleep Solutions is honored to help improve veteran's healthcare by speeding up the testing of veterans with suspected sleep apnea and conveniently providing tests and CPAP titration in the comfort of veterans' homes," said Michael J. Thomas, President and CEO of Sleep Solutions, Inc. "The adoption of SSI's protocols is helping the Veterans Administration improve its ability to cost-efficiently meet the demands of a growing OSA patient base with high-quality testing in an era of limited Federal resources."

VA researchers have published in separate research studies that 47.4 percent of VA's 5 million beneficiaries demonstrate symptoms or risk factors indicative of moderate to severe OSA. 95 percent of these VA patients go undiagnosed and have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, automobile accident, or death. Although most of the 172 VA facilities have a sleep lab, the facilities and staff have been overwhelmed and unable to meet the surging demand for OSA testing, resulting in extremely long wait times. A recent article in Federal Practitioner magazine described the scope of the problem, including waiting times of more than six months for laboratory sleep studies and testing costs of over $1,500 per patient.

"Delays in testing and the initiation of therapy put greater strains on an over-burdened healthcare system," added Thomas. "Only by adopting the contemporary approaches pioneered by the Veterans Administration can the U.S. medical community hope to address this growing public health crisis without runaway cost increases to health insurance providers and patients."

About Sleep Solutions

Sleep Solutions, Inc. provides technology and services for at-home diagnosis, therapy and care management of sleep-disordered breathing, particularly Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). The privately held company provides physicians and their patients a clinically validated, cost-effective, accurate and comfortable alternative to in-laboratory sleep studies at half the cost. A wide array of physician and consumer OSA resources are available through the company's website at http://www.sleepsolutions.com/.

Contact: Mike Thomas, President & CEO Voice: 877-753-3775 Email: info@SleepSolutions.com Website: http://www.sleepsolutions.com/

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com/.

Sleep Solutions, Inc.

CONTACT: Mike Thomas, President & CEO of Sleep Solutions, Inc.,+1-877-753-3775, or info@SleepSolutions.com

Web site: http://www.sleepsolutions.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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