The major hurdle to the increased diagnosis of OSA is lack of...

The major hurdle to the increased diagnosis of OSA is lack of sleep labs

Increasing recognition of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has resulted in an increase in demand for sleep tests. However, the rate-limiting-step for diagnosis of OSA continues to be the requirement for a study at a sleep centre to prove the diagnosis. However, there is still an insufficient number of sleep centres. Hence, a possible option is to further develop diagnosis of OSA so it can be performed in the home.

More home diagnosis would lead to a shift in the value chain

We believe third-party payers would be supportive of the further development of home diagnosis of OSA, because the direct and indirect costs of treatment of OSA are high and prevalence of the disease is increasing. Should home diagnosis become an accepted part of clinical practice, we believe that doctors will become more important in the industry value chain, as they already 'own' the patient, and now will also 'own' the OSA test result. Hence doctors are in a better position to order their preferred OSA machine and mask. We believe that sleep physicians tend to order OSA equipment on the basis of technological sophistication, one of RMD's competitive advantages.

More OSA diagnosis likely to lead to increased demand for RMD products

Only about 20% of the required number of sleep studies is being performed in the US pa. Should the home diagnosis of sleep apnoea become an accepted part of clinical practice by 2010, then the numbers of positive sleep apnoea tests should increase. We believe this would likely flow through to a corresponding increase in demand for RMD's products.