Value and payment in sleep medicine

Abstract

Value, like beauty, exists in the eye of the beholder. This article places the value of clinical sleep medicine services in historical context and presents a vision for the value-based sleep of the future. First, the history of value and payment in sleep medicine is reviewed from the early days of the feld, to innovative disruption, to the widespread adoption of home sleep apnea testing. Next, the importance of economic perspective is discussed, with emphasis on cost containment and cost-shifting between payers, employers, providers, and patients. Specifc recommendations are made for sleep medicine providers and the feld at large to maximize the perceived value of sleep. Finally, alternate payment models and value-based care are presented, with an eye toward the future for clinical service providers as well as integrated health delivery networks.