Improving Sleep Care with Integrated Sleep Centers: William Noah, MD

“We feel a responsibility because we're physicians, and practitioners and respiratory therapists, we feel from the top down that it's our responsibility to treat the patient, not just provide them equipment and not just to sell them something that. We’re interested in the outcome.” 

A recent study found that patients that received positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy machines as part of care from an integrated sleep practice (ISP) had better long-term adherence to the therapy than those who received machines from traditional durable medical equipment suppliers (DMEs).

NeurologyLive reached out to William Noah, MD, senior author of the study and the director and founder, Sleep Centers of Middle Tennessee, to investigate the reasons for this disparity. (Editor’s note: Noah was kind enough to speak with us while snowed in and working at his farm, so he asks that you please excuse his appearance on video.)

Noah discussed how integrating PAP therapy into sleep care benefitted patients’ understanding of the benefits of the therapy, and how receiving care from ISPs streamlines and simplifies communications between doctors and patients. He also compared the transactional model of DMEs to the integrated care model of ISPs.

REFERENCE

Andry JM, Tobin G, Shafin C, Noah W. Positive airway pressure therapy supplied by an integrated sleep practice associated with greater adherence among pre–Medicare-aged patients with sleep-disordered breathing. J Clin Sleep Med. 2021. 17(1):31-36. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.8786