Tackling Compliance From the Start

Disease management is a preferred model in the managed care industry to save costs and improve patient health. Typically, programs are aimed at reducing hospitalization rates for conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure and asthma. Can it work for patients with obstructive sleep apnea? You bet, say two providers whose programs have increased compliance rates and created a buzz among referral sources.

S.W.E.E.T. DREAMS

Health Complex Medical, Waterbury, Conn.

Successful compliance of patients with obstructive sleep apnea is the goal at Health Complex Medical. Its S.W.E.E.T. DREAMS disease management program relies on compliance tracking to provide details on how patients are doing and how to address problems that are indicated by the results.

Laura Castricone, CRT, is director of clinical services for the company. Castricone says she and her staff of 13 clinicians “exhaust all avenues” to ensure patient compliance and produce positive short- and long-term outcomes. This approach involves detailed education, mask choice and, if needed, the use of auto CPAP to determine appropriate pressure levels.

“We try to be partners with the sleep labs and the doctors and let them know that we're here to help them help their patients and make their patients compliant in any way, shape or form that we can,” Castricone says.

“We try different masks, and we will send therapists out any amount of times to re-educate them about the equipment or anything else they don't understand.”

The company provides 24/7 emergency coverage so patients can call at any time to report a problem.

“We try to troubleshoot issues over the phone, but if we cannot come to a satisfactory solution that way, we will send a respiratory therapist to the home to see the bigger picture. If a patient has a broken or non-functioning unit, we will lend them one while we send theirs off to the manufacturer for diagnosis and /or repair,” says Castricone.

The S.W.E.E.T. DREAMS disease management program focuses on the critical areas of education and compliance and uses the acronym S.W.E.E.T. to describe the components, including:

S - Set-up: Patients have the opportunity to spend time one-on-one with a clinician and try equipment and interfaces.

W - Watchman: The follow-up program ensures patients are complying with their prescription and prompts intervention when problems arise.