Preliminary Studies Show Potential for Reduced Employer Healthcare Costs After Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treatment.

The Sleep Wellness Institute Reports Preliminary Results of Two-Year Study Done With Kleen Test Products of Port Washington, WI.

May 4, 2009

Introduction

Over the last two years, the Sleep Wellness Institute has partnered with Kleen Test Products (KTP) to study the effect of screening, testing and treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) on a volunteer segment of their employee population. Through numerous benefits programs, Kleen Test rewards employees for healthy lifestyles and offers many programs to improve the well-being of all who work for them. This study offered a unique opportunity to learn about OSA, provide treatment to those employees affected and determine if OSA increased employee/employer healthcare costs.

Study Group

KTP has a workforce of 585 employees. Our original recruitment target was to get sixty volunteer employees to come forward – with 20 in each group. After recruitment we were able to start with 65 employees (representing 11% of the company’s workforce.)

To cost-effectively determine which employees had OSA, we initially used an at-home portable ApneaLink screening device for one night. Those employees who showed potential OSA from the results of the ApneaLink screening were given an overnight sleep study.  The results of each sleep study were interpreted by a board certified sleep physician to confirm if the employee had OSA.  The results of the sleep studies demonstrated that 33 of the KTP employees showed no evidence of OSA, 27 showed evidence of OSA, and 5 subjects withdrew from the project.

Treatment

Of the 27 employees identified with OSA, 9 refused treatment. The remaining 18 employees were placed on Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy. CPAP is a method of respiratory ventilation used primarily in the treatment of OSA. As the chart below shows, 11 of the employees use their CPAP therapy for an average of four hours or more per night. 7 employees use their CPAP device less than four hours per night. We are still in the process of collecting compliance data; these numbers are up-to-date with current usage.

Healthcare Usage

Each employee that volunteered for the study had their healthcare usage tracked for the previous 12 months prior to their entering the study. The healthcare usage of employees with no OSA was an average of $1198.13 per employee. The healthcare usage of employees diagnosed with OSA was an average of $2579.13 per employee. This is a statistically significant difference (unlikely to have occurred by chance) (P = 0.032).

Conclusion

We are still in the process of collecting data regarding healthcare usage during the 12 months each employee was in the study. Our targeted completion date is October 8, 2009. Once all data have been collected we will be able to make assertions and findings that are statistically significant.  However, of the 65 employee volunteers there are 11 employees diagnosed with OSA using their CPAP devices for 4 or more hours per night, preliminary data shows a trend of reduction in healthcare spending. (To date, the reduction in spending in this group of employees is down from an average of approximately $3,900 per employee to $205 per employee.)  The premise of the trial does appear to be valid – patients suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea use more healthcare than non-OSA sufferers. During the next year, we will continue to collect compliance and healthcare spending data to determine what effects CPAP set-up and screening have on healthcare costs of OSA patients.