Always On The Leading Edge
MediScore has been helping healthcare providers for nearly a decade, and our experience in the industry spans over 30 years. That is a long time, considering that the earliest form of “modern” sleep medicine came about in the late 1960s and the CPAP wasn’t invented until the early 80s. The industry has come a long way since then, and so have we.
When MediScore began, it was born out of one of the first free standing sleep labs. At the time, the hospital was the only place with the equipment necessary to diagnose sleep apnea in a patient. To have a sleep study meant that a patient would have to spend the night in a hospital, in a hospital bed, often times in a hospital gown, with a hospital atmosphere. Our idea was that a patient would be much happier and more comfortable in a hotel type setting and the quality of sleep would be a more accurate representation of an average night’s sleep at home. Although there were many doubts from industry insiders, the free standing sleep lab quickly overtook the hospital as the standard of care. Today there are thousands of free standing sleep labs around the country.
As the medical community learned more and more about sleep apnea, the number of sleep studies ordered by physicians multiplied. Sleep labs simply could not keep up with the demand and it was not uncommon for a sleep study appointment to need to be made weeks, or even months in the future. As technology advanced, so did our thinking. The diagnostic equipment became smaller and more manageable; what used to take up an entire room was now about the size of a desktop computer and could easily fit in a doctor’s office. Physicians who wanted to get their patients tested and get results back sooner turned to MediScore for help.
MediScore began creating sleep labs in doctor’s offices. An examination room used during the day to treat patients was converted into a sleep lab at night. Many had Murphy style beds that folded down from the wall, and patients appreciated the option to have their sleep study in an office that they were already familiar with, and the ability to be scheduled, many times, that very same night. There are still doctors with MediScore sleep labs in their offices today, however our main focus evolved once again.
The goal has always been to make the sleep study experience as comfortable for the patient, and as close to their average night’s sleep at home as possible. So where better to do it than in the patient’s own home? As technology advanced once again, it became possible for us to get accurate test results from portable diagnostic equipment that allowed the sleep study to be conducted in the patients own bed. At first our technician would have to monitor the equipment during the night, usually from the kitchen. Today, unattended, self administered sleep tests are quickly gaining popularity and are expected to eventually become more popular than lab based tests. The diagnostic equipment has come a long way, and now the treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea is finally evolving as well.
Today, MediScore’s primary focus is on helping Dentists treat sleep apnea in their practice with a specialized mouthpiece. We believe that the best treatment for any patient is the one that they actually use, and the medical community has recently began to accept and promote oral appliances as a first line of defense for OSA.
MediScore’s turnkey program for dental practices is the first and only of its kind. Over the past 30 years, we’ve acquired great experience in how to most effectively navigate all aspects of a successful sleep apnea treatment. From screening, testing and diagnosing, through treatment, patient follow up and insurance reimbursement, MediScore has simplified the process and holds a dentist’s hand. This allows them to focus on helping their patients and add needed revenue to their practice.