Sleep Review interviews John Mathias, president of Sleep Services of America

 With so many turnkey sleep operations available, it can be hard to tell one from another. Sleep Review spoke with John Mathias, president of Sleep Services of America (SSA), Glen Burnie, Md, to find out what makes his company unique.

Q. What is SSA and what role does it play in the sleep industry?
A.
We are a leading provider of sleep diagnostic and therapeutic services. We are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in DME and ambulatory services and also have several American Academy of Sleep Medicine-accredited laboratories. I should also note that we are jointly owned by Johns Hopkins and Vital Signs Inc. SSA currently operates 80 laboratories in seven different states and performs more than 26,000 diagnostic procedures per year in our full-service diagnostic sleep laboratories.

Q. What sets your company apart from others?
A.
I believe that the possibility of upward mobility through our comprehensive training, college-credited courses, and review sessions really makes SSA a great choice for professionals and hospitals alike. We have developed a career ladder to advance our staff both clinically and through management. Transferring within the company is especially easy and entails no loss of benefits, which are very comprehensive and extremely competitive. We also participate in both adult and pediatric research that most technicians find rewarding and interesting. Two full-time education/QA directors are very successful in preparing technicians to be registered. We also provide continuing education and reimbursement. Basically, by choosing SSA, you’re going to get professionalism and dedication to the craft at the highest level.

Q. How has your company overcome the challenges or obstacles present in today’s marketplace?
A.
There will always be challenges to meet and overcome in every industry. One that we have tackled successfully has been to provide excellent service uniformly over the array of states that we operate in. Our recently formed Medical Advisory Committee composed of board-certified doctors, chaired by Dr Nancy Collop, has worked to eliminate any inconsistencies in our policy and procedures to make SSA a very cohesive unit. Standard orientation programs and training manuals for all new employees, standardized CPAP compliance programs, and gold standards in scoring and data acquisition have also enabled us to function as precisely as possible as a whole. We are also very proud of the fact that SSA has grown an average of 30% a year for the last 5 years. And possibly the most important key to our success in overcoming challenges and raising the bar in the sleep industry is our employees, who routinely carry out our vision to perfection.