Rise and Shine

It would be impossible to doze through the noise being made recently in the sleep-disorder-products market. What once was a small, overlooked product area is now experiencing booming growth and expectations. Snoring is old news: A greater awareness of sleep disorders has startled physicians, patients and payers awake to the underlying conditions that cause snoring and other problems, injecting a welcome surge of growth that manufacturers are just now settling into.

“A lot of the industry documents indicate double-digit growth — it's absolutely true,” says Cheryl Richards, sleep product manager for Invacare. “Sleep labs are being put up left and right, and a lot of younger doctors think of sleep disorders and ask [patients] questions about them.”

The momentum in this market is relatively new, according to leading sleep-disorder-products manufacturers. “Five years ago, I would have said sleep disorders were one of the best kept secrets in disease therapy,” says Tim Quinn, vice president of home care for VIASYS Healthcare. Now, he says, “It's a zoo. I don't think there's a faster-growing market in health care today.”

Experts attribute the growth to a greater awareness among doctors and end users of obstructive sleep apnea and of sleep disorders in general. “This market is healthy, with more diagnosis of OSA and greater public awareness,” notes Steve Moore, sales manager for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.

“From a patient standpoint, the key driver is awareness,” says Rich Kocinski, senior vice president and general manager of the DeVilbiss division of Sunrise Medical. “Five to 10 years ago, significantly fewer people knew about sleep disorders. The exposure in the media, through efforts such as the National Sleep Foundation's Summit to Prevent Drowsy Driving, has brought sleep disorders to the forefront.”

The link between sleep disorders and other conditions — including congestive heart failure, diabetes, hypertension and even learning disabilities in children — also contributes to growth in this market, experts say. These conditions “are showing up on the radar and being served by the sleep-disorder market,” explains Ron Richard, vice president of marketing for the Americas at ResMed. The market is responding with “robust” growth, he says. “This market is growing at a steady clip and there's still huge, huge potential.”