Graymark Makes Its Mark Online

OKLAHOMA CITY — One of the nation’s largest sleep care
providers is reaching out of its brick-and-mortar facilities to
create a new presence online.

Graymark Healthcare, which provides comprehensive obstructive
sleep apnea therapy through sleep labs and clinics in more than 90
communities, introduced www.CPAP-supplies.com last week.

But it isn’t your regular online ordering site. In addition to
offering OSA patients CPAP devices and supplies, CPAP-supplies.com
has a team of sleep-certified physicians and respiratory therapists
on hand to answer patients’ questions from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST
Monday through Saturday.

“We know there are others who are doing CPAP e-commerce, but our
offering is a little unique,” said Timothy Lebens, vice president
for marketing. “All of our care is guided by certified sleep
physicians and also [answers to questions about] care needs are
provided by certified respiratory therapists.”

Lebens said the concept grew out of the company’s desire to meet
the needs of patients out of reach of its facilities, most of which
are in the central U.S. As of December, the company had 28 sleep
labs and 60 hospital sleep diagnostic programs in 11 states:
Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota,
Iowa, Missouri, New York, and Florida.

“Our objective is to provide optimum solutions for patients at
the lowest cost,” Lebens said. “It is an easy, affordable and
reliable sleep disorder solution. We can provide the same products
and services without having to provide the intensive level of care
of a sleep center.

“Most obstructive sleep apnea patients have visited a doctor or
sleep center and have used CPAP machines and masks before,” he
added. “They don’t need a lot of hand-holding or medical direction
because they have already been instructed in the proper use of the
equipment. They will find they can order the exact same supplies
online with a significant savings.”

Lebens said the site carries products from Fisher & Paykel,
ResMed and Philips Respironics and will be adding DeVilbiss. “They
are products we believe in. We don’t want to compromise,” Lebens
said. “If our physicians would not put [a product] on a patient in
a clinic, then we would not put it online.”

Patients pay for their items with a credit card, since
CPAP-supplies.com isn’t currently set up to accept insurance unless
patients are already connected to Graymark through labs or clinics,
Lebens said, although that could change as the company continues to
tweak its online operation. “I see that as possibly coming down the
pike,” he said.

Another feature of the site, he pointed out, is its
replenishment program. Customers can choose to be reminded when it
is time for a replacement mask, tubing or filter.

The idea is to make the experience easy and positive for the
patient, according to Lebens, who said the site was designed with
patient input. “We’re trying to change the dynamics of the
marketplace,” he said. “We’re trying to do it the right way and
really take care of patients and provide optimum care for them as
much as we can in an e-commerce setting.”

In August 2009, Graymark acquired somniTech
and somniCare, and added Avastra Eastern Sleep Centers in
September, nearly doubling the size of its sleep management
division. (The company’s ApothecaryRx division owns 18 pharmacies
in five states.)

Graymark has also implemented a core strategy to integrate the
diagnostic and treatment processes for OSA. While the industry has
historically managed the components separately, the company said it
recognized the clinical requirement that they be integrated in
order to drive patient compliance.

Patients who participate in its CPAP Success Program have a
compliance rate of over 83 percent versus the national average of
50 percent, the company reported last year.

Its first-quarter earnings report also reflect the integration,
with 117 percent overall and 31 percent same-store growth in
therapy revenues and a 42 percent same-store higher conversion rate
between diagnostic and CPAP treatment services than in the first
quarter of 2009. Same-store recurring CPAP re-supply sales grew by
69 percent.

“The higher conversion rate from diagnostic to therapy services
reflects our ability to better engage patients in their care and
shift them from a transactional diagnostic relationship to ongoing
recurring therapy and supply relationship,” said Graymark Chairman
and CEO Stanton Nelson. “The only way to avoid the long-term
consequences of obstructive sleep apnea is for patients to
consistently use their CPAP device; our comprehensive care model
improves the likelihood that patients will be compliant.”