1183 Board-certified Sleep Medicine Physicians See A Greater Proportion Of Complex Sleep Patients Than Non-specialist Providers

• Published in: Sleep (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2020-05, Vol.43 (Supplement_1), p.A452-A452
• Main Authors: Jobe, S L, Albrecht, J S, Scharf, S M, Johnson, A M, Parthasarathy, S, Wickwire, E M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Complex patients; Insomnia; Medicare; Medicine; Restless legs syndrome; Sleep apnea; Sleep disorders
• ISSN: 0161-8105; 1550-9109
• DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsaa056.1177

Abstract Introduction Despite a growing literature regarding the impact of board-certification in sleep medicine, little is known about the complexity of patients seen by board-certified sleep medicine physicians (BCSMPs) relative to non-specialists. To address this gap, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the differences in sleep complaints among Medicare beneficiaries seen by BCSMPs relative to individuals seen by non-specialists. Methods Our data source was a random 5% sample of Medicare administrative claims data from 2006-2013. Sleep disorders were operationalized using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Descriptive analyses were performed to estimate the number of sleep disorder diagnoses patients received by provider status. BCSMPs were identified using a cross-matching procedure based on National Provider Identifier (NPI). Results A total of 57,209 Medicare beneficiaries received a sleep disorder diagnosis between 2006-2013. Of these, only 2.2% were seen by BCSMPs. Relative to beneficiaries seen by non-specialists, those seen by BCSMPs were more likely to be diagnosed with more than one sleep disorder (p