The sleep industry (producers of monitoring and treatment devices, CPAP home care companies, sleep pharmacies, sleep hygiene, sleep travel products, etc.) is also growing exponentially. Thus, all three groups (doctors, industry and public) are vitally interested in close communications.
With all due respect and appreciation of enthusiastic and a sunny outlook on opportunities in Sleep Medicine, we should not deny several inherited internal issues which might seriously damage the future of Sleep Medicine if they are not resolved. Among those issues is unity among sleep community. An explosion of sleep centers has created a naturally excessive competitiveness and a lack of communications between them. Sleep Medicine is still not recognized as a medical sub-specialty – this is partially due to the fact that many honorable sleep specialists are Ph.D.’s, not M.D.’s.
In the attempt to solve this problem, The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Network from the College of Chest Physicians decided to split the power.
Credentialing of physicians (meaning Board Examinations) will be provided by the Sleep Network, and credentialing of Sleep Centers will stay under the AASM.
Competition inside the sleep industry (medical devices, pharmaceutical and hygienic products) is also increasing but there is no clear information about their credibility.
The public is bombarded by general media sensationalizing both positive and negative aspects of products, medications, services.
To address these issues, Sleep & Health monthly periodical was founded six years ago and has three goals in its mission:
- Unite all three groups (sleep specialists, the public and the sleep industry) by providing information about credible sleep-related clinics, services and products. Sleep & Health is functioning as something like the “Yellow Pages” of the sleep industry. Sleep & Health is organizing independent, friendly and fair “Consumer Sleep Products and Services Review” with interactive communications between customers, manufacturers and service providers.
- Educate the public and health professionals in a simple and entertaining way on the current knowledge and credible reviews about sleep and disorders of sleep-alertness, feature doctors, researchers, technicians, designers, volunteers and patients’ stories.
- Unite the sleep community, public and sleep industry by being a public forum promoting sleep medicine, becoming a real and influential force for reforms in health politics.
We started as a small, local newspaper, but within a short period of time, we are accepted by both professionals and public. Sleep & Health’s
distribution is now at about 20,000 copies and directed to:
- Sleep specialists, sleep industries, professional sleep associations and waiting rooms of medical centers
- Patient support groups and individual subscribers with known sleep disorders
- General public by inserting Sleep & Health in local community newspaper (for example, Chicago Daily Herald, Pioneer Press, etc.).Website: www.sleepandhealth.com with links to many sleep organizations
Sleep & Health is an exciting and vast project with incredible potential, but it needs support.
We are asking for your help in inviting sleep specialists and all those interested in reading Sleep & Health to express their opinions, ideas, give this paper to patients, the public and public officials. In other words, let’s make Sleep & Health
the most readable and influential Forum that unites health professionals and public for benefits of all.