Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) care places a significant burden on healthcare providers (HCPs) due to frequent in-person follow-ups and complex CPAP resupply processes. In the UK, NHS sleep services face growing strain, with backlogs causing long waits for diagnosis and treatment, issues worsened post-COVID-19 (NHS England, 2023). A budget impact model (BIM) presented at ISPOR EU 2023 (Melike et al) showed that remote monitoring can ease this burden by reducing the need for physical visits and streamlining resupplies, resulting in measurable HCP time savings. It estimated that managing 1,000 patients remotely could save 60 HCP working days annually. This study builds on that analysis by developing a capacity model to quantify how time savings impact patient throughput and waiting list reduction.
METHODS: The original BIM compared traditional OSA care with remote monitoring for 1,000 existing and 100 newly referred patients, estimating annual savings of 60 HCP working days. These inputs informed a capacity model simulating 5,000 patients under remote monitoring, a 2,000-patient waiting list, and 10 HCPs working 37.5 hours/week over 48 weeks/year, from an NHS perspective. The model estimated total HCP time saved, additional patients treatable per year, and time to clear the waiting list. Scenario analyses explored varying list sizes and levels of remote monitoring adoption.
RESULTS: Remote monitoring of 5,000 patients saved 298 HCP working days equivalent to 4.66 additional hours per HCP per week and enabled treatment of 6,782 more patients annually. The time to clear a 2,000-patient waiting list decreased from 5.0 to 3.7 weeks. For 10,000 patients, savings reached 597 HCP days, reducing backlog clearance time by 10.3 weeks.
CONCLUSIONS: Remote monitoring significantly reduces HCP demand and increases care capacity. This model shows how time savings can scale to improve access and reduce waiting times, supporting broader adoption of digital, value-based care models in OSA management.