Telemedicine Highlighted in Treatments for Insomnia, Sleep Disorders

Healthcare providers and payers are opening their eyes to telehealth as a means of treating insomnia and other sleep-related issues.

Studies discussed at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies’ SLEEP 2019 conference this week in San Antonio are supporting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) delivered via virtual care as an effective alternative to in-person care. Those studies suggest that connected health can help people dealing with sleep disorders by treating them in their homes, through online portals and mHealth apps, rather than in the doctor’s office or clinic.

“The most surprising findings in the study were that, contrary to our hypotheses, participants who received CBT for insomnia via telemedicine rated therapist alliance similarly to participants who received face-to-face CBT for insomnia,” J. Todd Arnedt, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry and neurology and co-director of the Sleep and Circadian Research Laboratory at Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said in a press release announcing results from his recent study. “In addition, ratings of satisfaction with treatment were equivalent between face-to-face and telemedicine participants.”

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), CBT-I “combines behavioral strategies, such as setting a consistent sleep schedule and getting out of bed when struggling with sleep, with cognitive strategies, such as replacing fears about sleeplessness with more helpful expectations.”

“Relative to other remote modalities, telemedicine may offer a unique blend of convenience for the patient while preserving fidelity of the face-to-face interaction,” said Arnedt, whose 47-patient study compared CBT treatments for insomnia delivered face-to-face to treatments delivered through the AASM’s Sleep telemedicine platform.

“Preliminary findings from this study suggest that patients undergoing telemedicine for insomnia can feel just as close and supported by their therapist as if they were in the office,” added Deirdre Conroy, PhD, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and clinical director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a co-investigator in the study. “Telemedicine could be utilized more for CBT-I to bridge the gap between supply and demand for this service.”

Payers are also noticing that a digital therapeutic platform can work alongside or even replace traditional treatment for sleep disorders.

CVS Health recently announced that digital therapeutics company Big Health will be included in its new Vendor Benefit Management platform, designed to offer CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit management (PBM) clients a range of health and wellness services for their members. Big Health’s primary product is Sleepio, a personalized digital sleep improvement program accessible via app or online.

“Given that poor-quality sleep and insomnia affect approximately 30 percent of adults, and is a condition that can impact a wide variety of mental health conditions, we are pleased to be working with Big Health to help make their digital therapeutic product, Sleepio, more accessible,” Troyen A. Brennan, MD, CVS Health’s Chief Medical Officer, said in a press release. “Big Health’s commitment to clinical evaluation and research aligns with our focus on applying evidence-based medicine to provide our clients and their members with access to appropriate health solutions and services, and many of our clients are interested in adopting this platform to help increase member access to these types of solutions, including Sleepio.”