Obstructive sleep apnoea: Improving healthcare services by combining process modelling and population analysis

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Medical Informatics
• Public Health

Background:

• Disease management emerged in the 1990s to address hyper-specialization, offering a comprehensive approach to chronic conditions.
• Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a prevalent chronic condition requiring organized local services that consider organizational factors and patient demographics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and apply a disease management strategy integrating healthcare process modeling and population analysis.
• To identify critical issues and develop collaborative solutions for Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) patient care.

Main Methods:

• A multidisciplinary team utilized Unified Modeling Language (UML) for graphical representation of healthcare processes.
• Population analysis involved statistical analysis of a 5-year retrospective cohort from a Community Pulmonary Service.

Main Results:

• Identified critical issues and proposed solutions, including refining patient databases, enhancing gate-keeper involvement in screening, and developing adherence strategies.
• Recommended incorporating physical exercise, interdisciplinary cooperation, and defining process indicators for quality measurement.

Conclusions:

• Concomitant analysis of formalized processes and risk factors systematically identifies areas for healthcare improvement.
• Utilizing UML for process modeling provides a standard language for formalizing care pathways, enabling potential web service implementation.