OKLAHOMA CITY — One of the nation's largest sleep care providers is reaching out of its brick-and-mortar facilities to create a new presence online.
Graymark Healthcare, which provides comprehensive obstructive sleep apnea therapy through sleep labs and clinics in more than 90 communities, introduced www.CPAP-supplies.com last week.
But it isn't your regular online ordering site. In addition to offering OSA patients CPAP devices and supplies, CPAP-supplies.com has a team of sleep-certified physicians and respiratory therapists on hand to answer patients' questions from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST Monday through Saturday.
"We know there are others who are doing CPAP e-commerce, but our offering is a little unique," said Timothy Lebens, vice president for marketing. "All of our care is guided by certified sleep physicians and also [answers to questions about] care needs are provided by certified respiratory therapists."
Lebens said the concept grew out of the company's desire to meet the needs of patients out of reach of its facilities, most of which are in the central U.S. As of December, the company had 28 sleep labs and 60 hospital sleep diagnostic programs in 11 states: Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, New York, and Florida.
"Our objective is to provide optimum solutions for patients at the lowest cost," Lebens said. "It is an easy, affordable and reliable sleep disorder solution. We can provide the same products and services without having to provide the intensive level of care of a sleep center.
"Most obstructive sleep apnea patients have visited a doctor or sleep center and have used CPAP machines and masks before," he added. "They don't need a lot of hand-holding or medical direction because they have already been instructed in the proper use of the equipment. They will find they can order the exact same supplies online with a significant savings."
Lebens said the site carries products from Fisher & Paykel, ResMed and Philips Respironics and will be adding DeVilbiss. "They are products we believe in. We don't want to compromise," Lebens said. "If our physicians would not put [a product] on a patient in a clinic, then we would not put it online."
Patients pay for their items with a credit card, since CPAP-supplies.com isn't currently set up to accept insurance unless patients are already connected to Graymark through labs or clinics, Lebens said, although that could change as the company continues to tweak its online operation. "I see that as possibly coming down the pike," he said.
Another feature of the site, he pointed out, is its replenishment program. Customers can choose to be reminded when it is time for a replacement mask, tubing or filter.
The idea is to make the experience easy and positive for the patient, according to Lebens, who said the site was designed with patient input. "We're trying to change the dynamics of the marketplace," he said. "We're trying to do it the right way and really take care of patients and provide optimum care for them as much as we can in an e-commerce setting."
In August 2009, Graymark acquired somniTech and somniCare, and added Avastra Eastern Sleep Centers in September, nearly doubling the size of its sleep management division. (The company's ApothecaryRx division owns 18 pharmacies in five states.)
Graymark has also implemented a core strategy to integrate the diagnostic and treatment processes for OSA. While the industry has historically managed the components separately, the company said it recognized the clinical requirement that they be integrated in order to drive patient compliance.
Patients who participate in its CPAP Success Program have a compliance rate of over 83 percent versus the national average of 50 percent, the company reported last year.
Its first-quarter earnings report also reflect the integration, with 117 percent overall and 31 percent same-store growth in therapy revenues and a 42 percent same-store higher conversion rate between diagnostic and CPAP treatment services than in the first quarter of 2009. Same-store recurring CPAP re-supply sales grew by 69 percent.
"The higher conversion rate from diagnostic to therapy services reflects our ability to better engage patients in their care and shift them from a transactional diagnostic relationship to ongoing recurring therapy and supply relationship," said Graymark Chairman and CEO Stanton Nelson. "The only way to avoid the long-term consequences of obstructive sleep apnea is for patients to consistently use their CPAP device; our comprehensive care model improves the likelihood that patients will be compliant."
