Sleep diagnostics company Itamar Medical Ltd has expanded its collaboration with remote medical technology company BioTel Heart, a division of BioTelemetry Inc, to make Itamar Medical’s Total Sleep Solution available to select BioTel Heart cardiology customers in the United States. The companies conducted a successful pilot program with several BioTel Heart customers and are making the service available in additional targeted regions. The collaboration is designed to respond to the growing demand for home sleep apnea testing among cardiologists who recognize effective sleep apnea management as a critical strategy for improving health in patients with cardiac disease.
Itamar Medical’s Total Sleep Solution is a comprehensive program that combines products and services, including the company’s home sleep test, the WatchPAT. It is designed to provide cardiologists who are not board certified in sleep easy access to a suite of products and services, including a network of sleep physicians, for management of patients they suspect suffer from sleep apnea. Products and services in the Total Sleep Solution program include the WatchPAT, CloudPAT, and SleePATh for cloud-based data and information mobilization solutions, and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy compliance monitoring and logistical solutions such as WatchPAT Direct.
BioTel Heart processes over 4 billion heartbeats per day and monitors over 1 million patients each year. Its suite of cardiac monitoring devices include its FDA-cleared ePatch and Mobile Cardiac Outpatient Telemetry (MCOT) monitors.
“We are excited to collaborate with BioTel Heart as we seek to leverage the growing opportunities for our WatchPAT technology,” says Gilad Glick, president and CEO of Itamar Medical, in a release. “BioTel Heart has an extensive and trusted network across the cardiology community and a significant footprint in the United States. Our collaboration provides the framework for cardiologists to prescribe home sleep apnea tests without worrying about pre-authorization and billing. This next step in our strategy simplifies the integration of our Total Sleep Solution offering into routine cardiac care pathways.”
Andy Broadway, president of BioTel Heart, says, “Our collaboration with Itamar Medical creates a unique opportunity to provide the cardiology community access to proven sleep apnea technology and services they can leverage while caring for patients. Cardiologists recognize that effective home sleep apnea testing and management can lead to improved patient outcomes and Itamar Medical’s Total Sleep Solution is an effective and convenient way to expand access to the tools that help make that possible.”
Rodney Horton, MD, FACC, a cardiologist at Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia, says, “It is estimated that more than half of all patients with cardiovascular disease suffer from sleep apnea, a comorbidity that has significant health and economic impacts. Diagnosing and managing sleep apnea is an essential component of cardiac care pathways that can improve patient outcomes, but many patients neither have access nor are able to manage the burden of spending a night at a sleep center. Additionally, many cardiology centers do not have the resources or infrastructure to offer home sleep apnea testing directly to their patients. The collaboration between Itamar Medical and BioTel Heart addresses both of these barriers by allowing more cardiology centers to offer home sleep apnea testing to their patients. Cardiologists’ ability to integrate Total Sleep Solution into routine care strategies is an excellent option when managing patients with sleep apnea.” Horton played a pivotal role in developing the WatchPAT HST program and was among the first cardiologists to implement the BioTel Heart solution using WatchPAT for diagnosis of sleep apnea.
