The Welltrinsic Sleep Network has entered into a contract with Health Net Federal Services to administer services for veterans and active members of the military.

The Welltrinsic Sleep Network  aims to offer a full range of services for sleep centers, sleep physicians, and managed care organizations with the goal of improving the quality of care. Welltrinsic recently contracted with Health Net Federal Services to provide sleep services to veterans and active duty military personnel and their dependents through the TRICARE and Patient-Centered Community Care (PCCC) programs.

Service to the Military

In 2014, one of Welltrinsic’s first contracts was to provide clinical services at an Air Force medical center in Ohio. Welltrinsic’s new Health Net contract expands its reach as a provider for veterans and active members of the military. Larry Epstein, MD, CEO of Welltrinsic, says, “Bringing together Welltrinsic and the VA seemed like a win-win situation: The VA needed to find a way to expand its ability to provide sleep services to veterans, and Welltrinsic was looking to develop new markets for our members.”

There is a contracting and credentialing process that Welltrinsic members need to complete before they begin receiving referrals from Health Net, Epstein says. Once completed, they will be eligible to provide care.

Health Net is one of the administrators of the VA’s Patient-Centered Community Care program and is responsible for administering this program in almost 40 states. Epstein says Welltrinsic is expecting a large number of referrals.

Sleep medicine is an area of particular shortage within the VA, and the VA population is especially at risk for sleep disorders, Epstein says. Health Net also administers one of the three TRICARE regions for the Department of Defense, which is responsible for arranging community care for active duty military personnel, their dependents, and retirees. Epstein says, “From the two programs together we hope to direct a good amount of business to our members.”

Sleep Disorders and Service Members

Epstein says a majority of veterans will present with the same type of sleep disorders most sleep practitioners see in their current practices, but some will present with the sleep disorders unique to their military service, which may include post traumatic stress disorder-related sleep challenges. Epstein says, “It will be important for the sleep physicians to recognize these situations.  Sleep physicians receive training in addressing these types of problems but, as part of this program, Welltrinsic members will also be able to have the veterans tap into the unique services available through the VA for addressing these problems.”

New Opportunities for Service

In addition to the new contracts, the network also maintains other contracts and is constantly in negotiation with insurers, health care systems, employers, and managed care groups across the United States. As Welltrinsic strives to improve the quality of care for patients with sleep disorders, Epstein says network executives are excited about the opportunity to be a provider for Health Net. He says, “This typifies the type of opportunities that Welltrinsic membership provides the ability to participate in large clinical contracts with national and regional integrated health systems that individual practices and centers might not be able to participate in on their own….This is the promise of Welltrinsic, and we are very excited at how quickly we have been able to deliver.”

Cassandra Perez is associate editor of Sleep Review. CONTACT [email protected]