GEM Specialty Health offers ‘next step’ for sleep health

MINNEAPOLIS – With new partnerships with Sleep Number and Amino Health and $7 million in Series A funding, GEM Specialty Health aims to not only increase awareness of sleep health but also improve access to therapy. 

As part of the partnership with Sleep Number, users of the bed retailer’s BreatheIQ app will now have the option to connect to the GEM Sleep virtual care platform to access clinical evaluations, diagnosis, treatment set up and support – all without setting foot in a clinic. 

“What we’ve seen with other wearables and more consumer-facing partnerships is fantastic, but it’s just surface data that can help people have awareness about potential sleep issues,” said Sara Chiapetta, head of product for GEM Specialty Health. “It’s also important to help people understand what their next step is. How do they take the information and make it actionable?” 

GEM Specialty Health’s partnership with Amino Health, a digital health care navigator, also expands access to GEM Sleep. In all, the company is in-network with both national and regional plans with a combined 53 million members. 

The company, which launched in 2022 when founder and CEO Brian Sauer was himself diagnosed with sleep apnea, aims to create a seamless process for patients. Through GEM Sleep, they can take an assessment to see if they are at risk for sleep apnea and are a good fit for virtual care. From there, they can order a home sleep test, receive a diagnosis and obtain a CPAP device, either through GEM Sleep or another DME of their choice. 

“We fill that out with a really robust support program to work with patients during that period of initial adoption through about the 90-day mark to really provide support for the most common reasons that that people typically have barriers getting up and running with CPAP,” Chiapetta said. 

Novel partnerships and advancing technology are helping the sleep market match the diabetes market in awareness and treatment, Chiapetta says. 

“It’s been a slower level or a lower level of awareness around sleep and the overall impact to health,” she said. “The awareness has been there with diabetes for quite a while and it's just starting to increase with sleep, so I absolutely see it starting to happen and anticipate that it will continue. We want to deepen our features to really have different options to meet people where they are at.”