Sleep Specialty Consultation: Improving Management of Sleep Disorders

Sleep disorders are prevalent health problems that reduce quality of life, increase risks for medical disease, and enhance healthcare costs/utilization. Only a small proportion of these cases are diagnosed in primary care. Pilot data from this VA suggest that sleep disorders are not adequately managed in a primary care setting: 33% of veterans with an insomnia complaint had an undiagnosed primary sleep disorder (e.g., sleep apnea), and 50% of these patients were prescribed pharmacologic treatment for insomnia by their primary care providers.