January 2004 Issue

Breathing Disorders Services Puts Relationships First

in CPAP Therapy

by Debra Yemenijian, Assistant Editor of ADVANCE

As one of the largest privately held providers of continuous positive airway pressure therapy in the United States, Breathing Disorders Services takes pride in its rapport with customers and its ability to soar above and beyond industry standards for CPAP compliance.

“In everything we do, we put relationships first,” said an official spokesperson of Breathing Disorders Services in Oklahoma City. “That’s our slogan, our mission and our vision.”

Founded in 1995, Breathing Disorders Services is a home medical equipment provider specializing in personal rehabilitative support to patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and sleep-disordered breathing.

“We formed BDS because we believe we can provide patients with a better level of care and significantly improve the success outcomes above the industry level,” Hodges-Peck said. “Right now, our compliance ratio is 78 percent higher than the current industry standard of 50 percent compliance.”

CUSTOMER CARE

Before a patient leaves BDS to begin his or her CPAP therapy, employees make sure that patient can demonstrate how to work the CPAP device, how to fit the mask, and how to clean and take care of their CPAP. Employees also educate customers on the disease process of sleep-disordered breathing and OSA so that they understand the consequences of what can happen if they don’t comply with therapy.

After a patient leaves the BDS office, employees place follow-up calls to ensure that the patient is using his or her CPAP properly and to address any additional problems or concerns with its use. Follow-up continues until a patient no longer is active with the company. This program has produced an 89 percent success rate in CPAP compliance among BDS customers.

“Our commitment is to assist the patient in the establishment of a lifelong maintenance program that includes interactive communication, patient education, measurement of therapeutic outcomes and modification of risk factors,” Hodges-Peck said. “The result is better patient compliance, which leads to improved long-term successful outcomes.”

BDS provides customers with user-friendly information and Web sites that explain how their therapy works and why it’s important. BDS also offers a 30-day mask replacement program that allows employees to work with patients to make sure they’re using the most appropriate interface for their therapy.

“CPAP is behavior modification,” Hodges-Peck explained. “These patients have had specific sleeping habits since birth, and retraining someone to sleep with a device that may be cumbersome isn’t easy. The information we provide patients offers them the support base they need to continue effective therapy.”

EMPLOYEE EDUCATION

In order to provide the best service to its customers, BDS provides its employees with an extensive education program in the basics of polysomnography, which is the same coursework their sleep technologists study. The American Association for Respiratory Care accredits this program.

“Our system begins with our employees, so we need to educate them from the ground up on the physiological ideology of BDS, on our relationship-first customer practices, and on the industry,” Hodges-Peck said.

Employees also attend quarterly seminars and workshops to increase their knowledge of sleep-disordered breathing and therapeutic equipment development. All of these seminars have been developed and are administered by registered polysomnographic technologists and registered respiratory therapists, Hodges-Peck said.

LOOKING AHEAD

Currently, BDS is taking an active role in facilitating the development of new distribution channels for CPAP, and it’s preparing for what Hodges-Peck believes is rapid growth in the therapeutic field. This is evidenced by the company’s expansion of new offices in Colorado, California, Arizona, North Carolina, Texas and Utah. Future expansion plans include opening new offices every other month across the country.