Information for Clinicians
Opportunities for ARES
Obtaining ARES for
your Practice
Opportunities
for ARES
Perioperative Screening: The American Society of Anesthesiologists recommends that all patients undergoing general anesthesia are screened for OSA. A study conducted at Washington University with the ARES found that 50% of those admitted for surgery had probable OSA based on the ARES Screener), and almost 20% of those who had an ARES sleep study had undiagnosed moderate to severe OSA based on a sleep study. The ARES Perioperative Screening Program provides a fast and inexpensive means for hospitals and referring clinics to identify patients at risk of OSA prior to surgery.
Transportation: The United States Department of Transportation guidelines require all drivers with commercial licenses to have a fitness-for-duty physical upon hire and every two-years thereafter. There are over 9 million commercial drivers in the U.S. Undiagnosed OSA is one of the leading causes of fatigue in the workplace. The DOT guidelines require drivers diagnosed with OSA (i.e., AHI > 30) wear CPAP. A recent study found a 50% prevalence of undiagnosed OSA in transportation workers holding commercial drivers licenses. A number of large transportation companies, including Schneider National Inc., have recently implemented OSA management programs for commercial drivers. Recent reports suggest that the health care savings for treating previously undiagnosed drivers is over $5000 per year. ABM recently collaborated in a commentary on the legal implications for drivers, employers or clinicians who might ignore this national safety concern.
Disease Management: Many of the conditions covered by disease management programs, including coronary heart disease, hypertension, heart failure, obesity, diabetes, clinical depression and smoking cessation are ailments which have been closely linked to OSA. However, few programs routinely screen, diagnose and treat OSA as a means to achieve better outcomes in the management of the other co-morbid disease. ARES Quest can provide a link for disease management and wellness programs to screen all of their patients online, and then refer 'at-risk' patients to a sleep specialist for diagnosis and treatment.
Referral Management Program: The ARES Referral Management (ARM) Program provides an integrated approach to easily and accurately identify patients at risk of having undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Its purpose is to use technology to assist sleep centers in providing a high level of support to their referral sources. Using a validated questionnaire, referral sources can simply and easily input responses and review the results with the patient during an office visit.
Obtaining ARES for your Practice
Healthcare providers can obtain the ARES and/or
ARES services under a number of different models. The ARES features that
can be configured for your specific needs are outlined in the ARES
Software Customization Guide. Please contact Advanced Brain Monitoring
for pricing and to determine which model is best suited to their needs.
Purchase Program - ARES Unicorders are available for purchase by sleep centers, hospitals, researchers and health care providers. We strongly encourage the full disclosure ARES sleep study data to be reviewed by a clinician boarded in Sleep Medicine when the data are used to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Study kits are sold in units of 30 and covers the cost for the Unicorder disposable and replacement components, as well as ongoing technical support and software upgrades.
Rental Program - this program is designed for clients who are building their portable monitoring practice but are not ready to commit to a purchase. When the Unicorder is used six-times per month, the average cost per study is $100. The minimum rental duration is three-months and the rental price does not apply toward the purchase.
Technical Review - this service is available on a per-study based to assist clients who wish to conduct test vs. retest comparisons but are not familiar with assessing signal quality. Technical review ensures periods with behavioral or physiological artifact are excluded from the study results and final reports are generated for the client after technical review has been completed. The ARES software provides for secure, automated transfer of the sleep study files to ABM for technical review. The turn-around time for technical review is 3 business days.
Clinician Interpretation - this service is available for clients or researchers unaffiliated with a sleep center and need to have an ARES sleep study interpreted by a clinician boarded in Sleep Medicine.
Service Program - In this model, the healthcare provider submits an ARES Study order to Advanced Brain Monitoring, and the ARES Unicorder is shipped directly to the patient to complete the in-home study. After wearing the Unicorder for one or two nights, the patient ships the Unicorder directly back to Advanced Brain Monitoring, who processes the recordings, inspects the physiological signals, and generates an ARES report. This model avoids having the patient come into the clinician's office. The physician simply places the order for a patient and then receives an ARES report. No software installation is needed. If the clinician is interested, full-disclosure records can be made available for their inspection. Typical turnaround from the time of order to receiving the report is 2 weeks.
To determine which model will be ideal for your healthcare practice,
contact Advanced Brain Monitoring at 866-677-2737.