Provider: Program boosts CPAP compliance to 89%

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - A respiratory provider here specializing in sleep disorders is touting the results of a new program that it says boosts CPAP compliance by more than 30%. While national averages for CPAP compliance range from 40% to 50%, Breathing Disorders Services claims its Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) Rehab Program, which takes a disease-management approach to disorders like sleep apnea, results in up to 89% compliance. "We believe we're changing the clinical landscape in how nasal CPAPs should be provided," said Andrew Macias, president and CEO of Breathing Disorders Services. Macias said providers typically limit their interaction with CPAP users to selling and delivering the device to them. In the SDB Rehab Program, however, users receive extensive education on their disorder and the devices that'll help users manage them. For instance, users are given a CD developed by a board-certified sleep specialist and psychologist that simulates the first CPAP experience, he said. "Learning new habits are stressful, and here you have a patient who's slept without a mask and headgear for 40 years," Macias said. "You need to help acclimate these patients because that's what's at the core of non-compliance." The SDB Rehab Program also asks patients to do things like keep sleep diaries and fill out outcome questionnaires. Macias said the company's compliance rates were based on outcome data it collected from the over 300 patients put through the program over the past year at its Oklahoma City, Okla. (89%), and Houston (83%) sites. But the program is not only helping patients; it's also helping Breathing Disorders Services. Macias said the company's shown a 50% increase in gross sales since it adopted the program. It's also shown a 59% increase in referrals for nasal CPAPs and bi-level therapy. In fact, the first year of the SDB Rehab Program has gone so well that this month, Breathing Disorders Services has decided to create a medical advisory board that will accredit similar programs implemented by other providers across the country. HME