Let’s Fix Sleep Together: Reflections from HLTH 2022

Whether the discussions were about new healthcare innovations, approaches to providing critical care, and technology insights, this year’s HLTH conference proved that the future of healthcare is bright.

Last week, Primasun awoke the sleep health movement when we officially launched at the HLTH 2022 conference. And the response has been overwhelming.

The entire healthcare community recognizes this moment in time as pivotal to embracing a more equitable, preventive model of healthcare. At Primasun, we believe with the help of employers, providers, payors, and brokers, we can build this model on a singular belief:

Sleep is medicine.

As we wrote earlier this month, “we believe that sleep, in its restorative and preventive function, can operate as medicine for improving our overall well-being.” And we’re encouraged to see that other members of the healthcare community agree.

Throughout the week’s activities, we listened to healthcare leaders like Oura CEO Tom Hale and Amazon Halo Medical Director Michael Miyamoto bring sleep to the forefront of audience’s minds. And on the ground, we engaged in countless conversations with attendees — from employers and payors, to brokers and potential patients — about the importance of expanding access to clinical sleep care.

After HLTH 2022, we’re more confident than ever that society is ready to embrace the sleep health movement.

Because doing so is essential to creating shared value for all stakeholders. Through our sleep movement, and clinically-supported solution for addressing complex sleep disorders, Primasun is working to:

• Advance health equity. Health disparities continue to rise, and sleep disorders are no exception — people of color are 2x as likely to have a sleep disorder, and there are immense geographic barriers to accessing care, both of which exacerbate existing disparities. In the words of Dr. Jay Bhatt, Managing Director of Deloitte, and Dr. Shantanu Nundy, Chief Medical Officer of Accolade, health equity isn’t just an ethical imperative, it’s an economic one (health inequities currently cost $320 billion). When we ensure access to care for even the most marginalized and commit to equitably improving health outcomes, patients and the healthcare system at large are better for it.
• Improve health outcomes and quality of life for patients. The current path to clinical sleep care is broken and, like so many other aspects of healthcare, it leaves patients behind. To paraphrase Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: we must transform our healthcare system into one that prioritizes patient-centered care and drives equitable health outcomes for all.
• Reduce the strain of costly comorbidities on the healthcare system. Chronic disease remains a key driver of cost in the healthcare system — and when left untreated, sleep disorders only further contribute to these costs. As Liz Kwo, Chief Medical Office of Everly Health, stated, “as we embrace a more preventive model of healthcare, improving productivity and happiness, too, in addition to healthcare utilization, will be key indicators of solutions that lessen the costly burden of chronic disease.”

We left HLTH 2022 not only optimistic about the future of sleep health, but the future of health equity and preventive care. Here at Primasun, we’re inspired by our industry peers’ commitment to bettering healthcare for all, and we’re prepared to play an active role in doing so by making sleep the medicine everyone can access.

This is the moment to advance sleep as a universal movement that improves patient outcomes. Join us to see that it flourishes.