Sleep physicians have been saying it for years, and now a new study quantifies the financial costs of poor sleep—particularly insomnia. According to The Archives of General Psychiatry, part of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network, the figure is in the tens of billions—$31.9 billion to be exact.
Several news outlets, including the Huffington Post, reported the startling numbers that only add weight to the growing focus on sleep in the health care world. “Researchers found that workplace mistakes related to insomnia were more costly than other kinds of errors, with insomnia-related errors costing $32,062 compared with non insomnia-related errors costing $21,914, on average,” wrote bloggers in the Post.
A look at the study abstract “The Associations of Insomnia with Costly Workplace accidents and Errors: Results from the America Insomnia Survey” reveals that researchers believe additional effectiveness trials are needed “to determine whether expanded screening, outreach, and treatment of workers with insomnia would yield a positive return on investment for employers. The research reopens legitimate concerns about public safety and spiraling health care costs in the work place.
The focus on sleep apnea extended north of the border earlier this year when the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) launched a first-of-its-kind pilot in Canada to deliver a full service sleep apnea program to commercial truck drivers. As part of the initiative, partners at OSA Canada Inc visited trucking terminals to screen, test, and diagnose drivers—as well as equip and train drivers with existing sleep apnea.
OSA Canada Inc is providing ongoing monitoring of the CPAP equipment to ensure both driver comfort and compliance. For a monthly fee, OSA Canada is satisfying all requirements of the Canadian medical and legal community.
“The OSA Canada program will offer a turnkey solution for fleets whose commercial drivers are dealing with the challenges of sleep apnea,” said Mark Sylvia, president, OSA Canada. “Carriers will never have to worry about access to sleep beds, CPAP machines breaking down or drivers having difficulty finding the right mask; equipment will be replaced and re-fitted no questions asked.”
“We at Precision Pulmonary Diagnostics (PPD) are very happy to provide our unmatched experience and expertise in the delivery of the OSA Canada program,” added Mark Berger, president of PPD, and senior medical advisor to OSA Canada. “With our involvement, clients of OSA Canada can be assured from day one they will be dealing with a full service sleep apnea solution team that is driver-focused and on standby to assist 24-7. Our years of experience have helped us to understand the issues and concerns of trucking managers and their drivers.”
Chris Bonsa
Staff Writer
Sleep Diagnosis and Therapy
chris@sleepdt.com
