Influencers making ‘SHIFT’ Happen

by Len Liptak, ProSomnus Co-founder and CEO, and Mark T. Murphy, DDS, D.ABDSM

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Guggenheim Museum was made possible by using reinforced concrete materials that brothers Albert and Julius Kahn had patented to build bigger and more efficient automobile plants in the Motor City. Prior to this, large buildings were built wider not taller, and had wooden substructures at risk of fire and rot. Influencers like the Kahn brothers and the innovative use of materials combined with great design allowed ‘SHIFT to Happen’.

Today, by using MG6™ Technology materials, artificial intelligence, precision design, and robotic manufacturing, ProSomnus^® Sleep Technologies is building better not bigger. These smaller, stronger platforms require less dose, invite fewer side effects, and have better efficacy and effectiveness than predicate materials and designs. It is time for another ‘SHIFT’.

“It has become increasingly difficult to offer appliances that don’t rhyme with ‘BEVO’ because my sleep assistants insist on consistency and satisfied patients. ProSomnus EVO has significantly improved the time it takes to deliver, and for those who know my penchant for statistics, 96% of our EVOs are delivered with zero adjustments.”

– Kent Smith, DDS, D.ABDSM, D.ASBA

Influence SHIFT

The total North American sleep market was worth 28.6 billion in 2017. Pillows and mattresses accounted for nearly 18 billion, sleep centers 4.2 billion and CPAP placements 4.3 billion, you get the idea! The market opportunity for OAT is huge, yet we have not taken the steps necessary to jump from the 5-7% market segment pond we play in, and into the Great Lake that is 15-20 times larger. For years, DSM has been talking about crossing this chasm and working alongside medicine, but until ProSomnus came along, no one was really doing anything to make it happen.

The SHIFT of just 10% of the gatekeepers prescribing patterns would triple or quadruple the market share we have of OSA treatment. By earning the trust of sleep physicians, PAs, NPs, and third-party payers, we can influence decisions on which therapy is prescribed. Our surveys of boarded sleep doctors have given us great insight into why they don’t trust OAT. Our voice of customer inputs and data has guided research and product development that begins to solve this issue.

Insufficient SHIFT

Einstein’s definition of insanity was “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”. Using devices that are uncomfortable, bulky, require more dose, invite side effects, and do not have exceptional efficacy do not earn trust. Gunky materials with a higher incidence of delivery challenges, repair, and replacement does not excite patients, payers, or physicians. It is just math. If we continue to use the same cold and bench cured, handmade assembled materials and devices, or porous, less precise materials, we cannot expect to grow dental sleep medicine beyond the paltry 5% share of treatment options chosen today.

“The ProSomnus platform and EVO sleep device have elevated the conversation with physicians. There is a mutual respect now and a bond of trust. My referring physicians are writing more prescriptions for OAT. The cases we work on together have better outcomes, require less dose, take less time to treat and our patients are delighted.”

– Brandon Hedgecock, DDS, D.ABDSM, D.ASBA

Recent posters, articles and publications have described the precision medical devices of ProSomnus as advantaged. Smaller, stronger, less dose, fewer side effects, and easier to keep clean are only the beginning. Exceptional efficacy and adherence are slowly winning the hearts and minds of prescribers and building bridges. The EVO-lution began with ProSomnus [IA], moved to a dorsal variant, [CA] LP and through a Precision Herbst, [PH]. Today, ProSomnus EVO™ presents as the device that will help clinicians influence SHIFT in a way that has not been possible before.

Accelerate SHIFT

No other oral appliance medical device company has two physicians, two dentists, and a PhD on the payroll. This clinical orientation and scientific approach are producing more posters, abstracts, publications, and research that will help prescribers understand the advantages of precision OAT. That is an important differentiation. PRECISION therapy will influence and accelerate SHIFT. So, to will studies like FLOSAT (First Line OSA Treatment). Drs. Olivier Vanderveken, Marc Braem, and ProSomnus’ Global Scientific Committee Chair, Shouresh Charkhandeh are doing prospective randomized controlled crossover study that should demonstrate the value of EVO as a fist line therapy instead of CPAP. The University Hospital in Belgium is embracing this concept of precision Oral Appliance Therapy for patients struggling to get on CPAP due to the recall and shortages.

“I’m fortunate to have treated thousands of OSA patients with OAT for the past 25 years and have seen many changes. I am most impressed with the latest technology and innovation from ProSomnus and most recently their EVO snoring and OSA device which meets many of my clinical and patient needs. EVO drops right in with zero adjustment, easy to determine advancement room thereby cutting chair time in half. Patients find EVO easy to use and hygienic. I’m honored to be a part of the ‘SHIFT’ from CPAP to precision OAT.”  – Nancy Addy, DDS, D.ABDSM

Here in North America, Pulmonologist and ProSomnus’ Chief Scientist John Remmers, MD, and our ENT and Medical Director Eddie Sall, MD, DDS, are involved in a clinical study that will produce data to support the expansion of ProSomnus EVO’s indications for use to include the treatment of severe OSA. This will be a profound accomplishment in earning the trust of the medical community. To date, the AADSM and AASM guidelines only acknowledge the mild and moderate treatment choice FDA clearances. Objective remote patient monitoring will also strengthen the relationship and trust of providers and physicians. It would be unwarranted today to dispense a CPAP without a data-cloud connection for tracking patient success. Transparency and reporting of efficacy and compliance will result in better outcomes that medicine can embrace.

Choose SHIFT!

Our greatest power as human beings is our freedom to choose. We are free to choose what we do, how we feel about it and of course, when. These choices, and sometimes the absence of choice, will ultimately serve as the architect and construction of our lives and our profession. The best way to predict the future is to create it. That too is a choice. Manufacturers like ProSomnus can choose to make better devices. To earn physicians trust and the respect of payers, providers could choose to use better precision devices. Accelerators like evidence-based research, the Phillips recall and the AHRQ paper make it easier too.

In Conclusion

There is no price to pay for education…

There is a price to pay for ignorance.

There is a price to pay for good health…

And a price for sickness and disease.

There is a price to pay for attending to relationships…

And a price to pay for neglecting them.

There is a price for love and trust…

And a price to pay for fear and hate.

We cannot choose whether or not we will pay…

We can only choose for what it is we pay for.