Sleep Diagnostics: A Dreamy New Service

Sleep lab category added to the HealthTrust portfolio

HealthTrust recently added a new sleep lab category to its portfolio of contracted suppliers. MedBridge Healthcare provides hospitals with full-service sleep lab management services that can be tailored to an organization’s needs. “Sleep diagnostics is a preventive category with a lot of potential for growth,” says Ian Anderson, Contract Manager, Purchased Services at HealthTrust.

“Sleep is foundational to health,” says Seema Khosla, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at MedBridge. Sleep disorders like sleep apnea often go undiagnosed and exacerbate comorbidities like congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), stroke and diabetes. An accurate sleep diagnosis can lead to proper treatment and better sleep. It also helps prevent unnecessary hospital readmissions, which is better for patient outcomes. “By identifying and treating sleep disorders, we improve the overall health of our communities,” adds Dr. Khosla.

Focused on quality & patient satisfaction

MedBridge already partners with as many as eight HealthTrust members, including Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin, Georgia. The 190-bed regional referral hospital serves 13 counties in rural communities.

“MedBridge has a great reputation,” says Rob Ward, Sleep Center Director at Fairview Park. The organization became our sleep lab partner in 2022. “The MedBridge team has brought a lot of structure, policies and processes to our sleep services, and the staff is phenomenal. They help us work through any issues we’re having and ensure we’re meeting the American Academy of Sleep Medicine accreditation requirements.”

And, from a patient experience standpoint, the MedBridge sleep technicians consistently receive positive feedback, as reported on follow-up surveys.

“During our last Joint Commission survey, their tech stayed late to walk the surveyors through the center and there were zero issues,” adds Ross Kemp, COO at Fairview Park. “They’ve been great partners; I know I can pick up the phone and they are going to support us effectively.”

“We are always focused on the patient,” says Dr. Khosla. “From learning the pain points over the years, we’ve developed tools that allow us to partner with patients, such as live 24-hour clinical call support and a telemedicine phone app.”

A customizable solution

MedBridge offers inpatient and outpatient sleep labs and home sleep apnea testing. Hospitals can either purchase or rent sleep lab equipment and supplies and pay a fixed fee for service (only for completed procedures).

Here are some of the customizable operational services MedBridge provides:

All staffing, technologists & office personnel (no professional physician services)
Insurance authorization & verification
Patient sleep study scheduling
Therapy service coordination & set-up
24-hour clinical support for in-center technicians & home sleep patients
Add-ons: Inpatient sleep screening, product research, patient & physician education, and population & occupational health

MedBridge also assists with program accreditation, business metric reporting, performance improvement, electronic medical record integration and service triaging.

Reducing readmissions by addressing sleep

Nationally, about 1 in 5 Medicare patients are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge from an initial hospital admission. On average, a COPD readmission can cost $10,000 and a congestive heart failure readmission can cost $15,000 in CMS penalties alone.

In partnership with collaboratehealth, MedBridge’s Hospital Readmission Reduction Program helps hospitals reduce readmissions. HealthTrust members automatically have access to this if they use MedBridge. The program includes an app that allows the remote clinical team to stay in close contact with the patient at home and provide ongoing support and guidance. All costs for this program—including costs associated with nursing, live pharmacist medication reconciliation, RPM equipment and patient transportation as needed—are covered under a success fee. MedBridge is reimbursed only if the patient graduates from the program.

Anderson says, “The great thing about working with HealthTrust to obtain sleep lab and home diagnostic sleep services is the reassurance that comes from knowing the vendor has been fully vetted by HealthTrust Strategic Sourcing and Legal teams. You know you are accessing an approved partner who can deliver top-of-the-line services at a great price.”

Learn more about the new sleep lab category by talking to your Account Manager or reviewing the MedBridge contract package on the Member Portal.