Resmed’s sleep strategy: Innovation or industry disruption?

YARMOUTH, Maine – CPAP providers say they can’t fault Resmed for expanding its reach into the sleep market, but there’s always concern that a “Goliath” will eventually muscle smaller companies out of the way. 

Resmed’s strategic moves 

Resmed announced in May that it had acquired VirtuOx, an independent diagnostic testing facility (IDTF) for sleep, respiratory and cardiac conditions. Earlier this spring, it announced the availability of its home sleep apnea test, the NightOwl, and launched a rebrand to reflect its increasing direct-to-consumer engagement.   

“Just the way they are positioning themselves – this kind of buttoned everything up,” said Robyn Parrott, president of Troy, Mich.-based Sleep Solutions Home Medical. “The question is going to be what they’re trying to accomplish here. Are they just another Goliath out there?” 

Providers question sleep testing bottleneck 

In discussing the acquisition, Resmed officials said it would help address a bottleneck in sleep apnea testing. Whether or not there actually is a bottleneck depends largely on location, say providers. 

“We don’t have that problem here in Cheyenne or Caspar,” said Clark McInroy, owner of COPD Respiratory Services, which has four locations in Wyoming. “There are two sleep labs and there’s always home testing with either Snap Diagnostics or VirtuOx, so we don’t see that bottleneck. And we’re very quick about getting the patients (on therapy).” 

Other providers say they’ve seen a bottleneck in the process for years, and it’s probably only going to get worse. They also say Resmed's not wrong that there’s room to streamline the process – the bigger question is what’s the best way to do that. 

“As more awareness continues to be raised about all of the disease processes that go along with not treating a sleep disorder, that makes the bottleneck even bigger,” said Woody O’Neal, vice president of O’Neal Medical in Pelham, Ala. “I still think it’s a fairly inefficient process by which a person goes to a sleep lab and if the lab is challenged with their own limitations in terms of staffing and things of that nature, that makes scheduling a test that much harder.” 

Direct-to-consumer solutions expand 

Providers have already seen some competition from Resmed, which began selling its AirMini CPAP device through an online shop in 2021; it added the AirSense 11 in late 2024. For patients who opt to obtain diagnosis and treatment by paying out of pocket vs. through insurance, there’s not much to stand in the patient’s or Resmed’s way, say providers. 

“From a retail standpoint, if Average Joe just wants to have a sleep study, they can Google it, (find an HST provider) and get that HST signed off on, and then they can go online and buy directly from Resmed,” said Jason Jones, president of Troy, Ala.-based Jones Medical Supply. “Here in Alabama, we have a brick-and-mortar licensure requirement, but in other states, you can go to Resmed’s website and have an Airsense 11 shipped to your house, so I do think that that opens up the door for them to do more of that.” 

Industry veterans urge focus on patient outcomes 

At the end of the day, Resmed exists to make money, just like every company. It’s nothing providers haven’t seen before, they say. 

“The industry always evolves; it always goes through different challenges,” said Mike Austin, president of Virginia-based Quality DME. “There's always something that might threaten our business, but we have to be smart about it and take steps to solidify our business. (We need to) focus on what we're good at, providing those patient outcomes and the relationships we have with the physicians, because that's what we have always done, and that's what we will always do. That is what we think will allow us to continue to do good business.”