Description:

An estimated 40 million Americans suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), with less than 10% receiving a diagnosis, and even fewer following the recommended treatment long-term. When CMS introduced the remote patient monitoring (RPM) program in 2019, I realized it could provide the initial funding to support patients in a new, more sophisticated way, elevating sleep apnea care delivery with at-home monitoring.

With ongoing evaluation and treatment adjustment, coupled with patient education and awareness about the positive impact on their health, the hope was to improve long-term compliance, which would, in turn, decrease the healthcare spend for these patients.

To investigate this theory, I launched a 90-day trial, enrolling patients into a sleep-specific RPM program. The app is configured to support patients with sleep apnea educational materials and informative interactions with our clinical team. Our care team regularly monitored our patients’ heart rate, sleep architecture, blood oxygen level, airflow, and breathing patterns using consumer-grade Garmin wearables and our virtual care app.

All the biometric data was linked with patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). This combined data set provided a rich view of a patient’s health, in real-time and longitudinally over a 90-day period. Trends, abnormal biometric readings, and PROMs allowed our team to quickly intervene to adjust treatments for our patients.

At the population level, the care team effectively monitored patients and proactively intervened when needed. The technology complimented and augmented the care team’s ability to provide personalized care at scale through dashboards and automation.

The long-term implications of this high degree of patient care are obvious. Sleep RPM will increase satisfaction and compliance in patients with sleep apnea, and with time, these patients will develop fewer severe, expensive comorbidities associated with untreated or undertreated OSA.

Speaker's Bios:

Keith E. Matheny MD, FARS
Otolaryngologist @Carium 

Dr. Keith Matheny is the managing partner and physician at Collin County Ear Nose and Throat in Plano, TX. He oversaw the organization's growth and transition from a two physician, single-office practice by an aging hospital, into a six physician, two mid-level provider practice with three strategically-located modern offices within their market. Dr. Matheny has dozens of publications as primary author or co-author in peer-reviewed scientific journals, with multiple other manuscripts pending. He has given numerous institutional, national, and international presentations on his research interests and otolaryngologic topics. Dr. Matheny has also founded and actively oversees five companies outside of his surgical practice.