Strategies to Survive Sleep Medicine’s Shift to Home
The landscape for sleep medicine has undergone significant shifts in recent years, with ongoing evolution expected over the coming decade as sleep studies continue to shift from the lab to the home setting. Factors contributing to growth in home sleep include advances in sleep technology and enhanced direct-to-consumer marketing, as well as increased payer scrutiny. The shift to home sleep will occur to varying degrees and will ultimately depend on a market’s patient population.
Traditionally, lab-based sleep studies have been a highly profitable business for health systems, with many organizations reporting margins in the 40% range. However, the transition to home sleep testing is anticipated to significantly reduce margins for health systems, as third-party sleep vendors and nonhospital providers begin to acquire greater market share. As sleep studies shift sites, it will be important for health systems to offer comprehensive sleep medicine services for conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), as well as identify and maintain complicated patients within the System of CARE. In addition, it will be important to focus on the patient as a health-savvy consumer and extend community outreach to increase public awareness of prominent sleep disorders.
Sg2 members can click through to our infographic for more details on 4 potential strategies, as well as a key insight, and read the Sg2 FAQ Sleep Medicine Program Evolution: Surviving the Shift to Home.
Not an Sg2 member? Contact us to learn more about the top trends in sleep medicine programs and how to adapt to a changing landscape.
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