Physicians - Integrated Sleep Group

Sleep apnea is a common disorder whereby one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths during sleep. Essentially, it is suffocation during sleep that is detrimental to sleep and overall health. These periods of ‘suffocation’ can last from a few seconds to minutes and can happen many times per hour ie. 30 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common type of sleep apnea. It is a serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep and occurs when the muscles and soft tissue intermittently collapse and block the airway during sleep.

“Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a breathing disorder during sleep that has implications beyond disrupted sleep. It is increasingly recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiac, neurologic, and perioperative morbidities. Yet this disorder remains undiagnosed in a substantial portion of our population. It is imperative for all physicians to remain vigilant in identifying patients with signs and symptoms consistent with OSA.” – Mayo Clin Proc. 2011 Jun; (866): 549–555.

OSA is chronic and insidious. It significantly increases the risk of developing and/or worsening many commonly diagnosed conditions, for example:

STROKE – Men with moderate/severe OSA are 3x more likely to have a stroke.
HYPERTENSION – OSA can be a contributory factor to HBP, and is the leading cause of secondary hypertension.
CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE – OSA increases a patient’s risk of having CHF by up to 76%.
TYPE 2 DIABETES – OSA can increase a patient’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 30%.
SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION – Men with ED are twice as likely to have OSA.
DAYTIME SLEEPINESS – 87% increased risk with OSA.
DEPRESSION – 50% increased risk with OSA.

Sleep Well. Live Well.

Integrated Sleep Group (ISG) was created to address a condition that is critically underdiagnosed and undertreated: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

Our unique approach to screening patients, our ability to offer optimum non-surgical treatment modalities, our protocols to keep physicians informed, and our commitment to patient compliance make us more effective at identifying and treating patients with OSA than any other existing ‘CPAP clinic’.

The Approach to screening – We are on-site, at your clinic. Our team will administer a very concise screening questionnaire to each and every adult patient that attends your medical clinic. This questionnaire is scored, and patients with a high risk of having OSA are identified and contacted via telephone, email, or SMS text to book an appointment with one of our team members to arrange for a Level 3 Home Sleep Test, which will be interpreted by a pulmonologist. If an OSA diagnosis is made, the patient will be contacted for a follow-up consultation to discuss treatment options, and the possibility of CPAP titration and/or an Oral Appliance (Mandibular Advancement Device).

This approach to screening all adult patients that visit a medical clinic is unique and extremely effective. An estimated 20% of adult patients visiting a family physician’s office will be at risk of having OSA. Being on-site leverages the authority of the medical clinic, and allows for mass screening to occur. This method effectively solves the problem of under-diagnosing OSA and allows for the vast majority of patients suffering from this condition to be identified.

Non-Surgical Treatment of OSA – Unlike ‘CPAP clinics’, ISG will offer CPAP/BiPAP/AutoPAP therapy solutions, as well as Oral Appliance Therapy (Mandibular Advancement Device). Oral Appliances are the treatment of choice for the treatment of ‘mild’ OSA, as its effectiveness is equal to that of CPAP, however, Oral Appliance has much higher compliance rates.

Keeping Physicians Informed – We have strict protocols in place which ensure excellent communication with physicians. At every step of the way, our team will provide a report to the patient’s physician. We require that the physician signs off and approves a prescription prior to treatment. Communication with the family physician is important, and we will always keep them informed and updated.

Achieving unprecedented compliance rates – Over 50% of patients become non-compliant with CPAP treatment within the first year. This statistic gets worse as time elapses. Our team, lead by Registered Respiratory Therapists remotely monitor Wifi-enabled CPAP / AutoPAP devices to ensure proper pressure titration, use, and compliance of the device. Phone consultations and even at-home consultations are made at no additional charge to the patient in order to maximize treatment success rates. Periodic, pre-booked appointments are made to ensure patients ‘stick with the program’. Our team is incentivized to maintain extremely high compliance rates (better than 90%).

Non-Obstructive Operation of ISG in your clinic – Our business model depends on operating within your medical clinic in a manner that does not disrupt your normal day-to-day operations. We require a small space within your office to conduct patient-therapist consultations, and that is all we need from you. We will do ALL of the heavy liftings, clinically and administratively. Our team administers questionnaires, scores them, follows up via phone/email/SMS text with your patients to book consults, we handle test results / interpretations, produce summaries/reports for your physicians regarding their patients, administer level 3 sleep tests, handle direct billing to patient insurance, handle financing for treatment, administer CPAP titrations / trials, follow up with patients, ensure compliance etc…. We handle ALL OF IT BEHIND THE SCENES.

Compensation – Integrated Sleep Group compensates Host Medical Clinic owners for the use of a small space in the Host Clinic. ISG typically pays the Host Medical Clinic owner between $2000-$6000 per month as a ‘license fee’ for the right to use this small space.

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