title: Multidisciplinary sleep centers: strategies to improve care of sleep disorders patients.
abstract: Current emphasis on patient outcomes within sleep medicine, with a particular focus on quality improvement and contained costs, calls for sleep specialists to develop innovative models for long-term care and management of sleep disorders patients. Multidisciplinary sleep centers can facilitate highest-quality care that is timely and cost-effective. Effective resource use in a multidisciplinary sleep center can help minimize fragmentation of care, reduce effort duplication, and control costs. Proposed strategies to help achieve a balance between quality of care and cost-effectiveness include: (1) multidisciplinary specialty clinics, (2) optimized use of information technology, and (3) adoption of reliable performance measures.
authors.affiliation: Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
authors.forename: Anita Valanju
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Shelgikar
authors.affiliation: Fusion Health, Johns Creek, GA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Durmer
authors.affiliation: Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Joynt
authors.affiliation: Center for Sleep Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.affiliation: Fusion Health, Johns Creek, GA.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Riney
authors.affiliation: KCP Advisory Group, Burlington, MA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Valentine
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D056508:Sleep Medicine Specialty / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: cost-effectiveness; information technologies; multidisciplinary; outcomes; performance measures; sleep disorders