Precision Pulmonary Diagnostics, creators of a sleep apnea detection and treatment program aimed at the trucking industry, has announced full availability of its solution for enhancing truck driver safety and lowering health care costs for motor carriers.
The announcement follows nearly three years of design and testing of Precision Pulmonary's online screening tool and sleep apnea detection and treatment program, including the completion of a pilot program at Schneider National.
"When government and industry-led sleep apnea studies showed that 28% of truck drivers were at risk we knew this was an area in which we needed to focus," stated Wendy Sullivan, RN, occupational health manager for Schneider National. "Precision Pulmonary's program is designed for trucking. They understand the drivers' world of 'don't take me out of service' and 'don't make me wait'. That was very important to us and to the success of the program."
In conjunction with Schneider National, Dr. Mark Berger, president of Precision Pulmonary, reported that all necessary aspects of research and development were covered. "Working with Schneider to fine-tune our program was, and continues to be, a great opportunity," he stated. "We are very pleased with the results they have experienced so far.”
Angela Fish, Schneider National director of benefits, said, "In partnership with Precision Pulmonary, we reduced our healthcare costs an average of 58% for our treated drivers."
She noted that following treatment of 778 drivers who were found to have sleep apnea and treated for it, Schneider National is realizing:
• A savings of $500-$708 in health care costs per treated driver per month
• A 30% reduction in accident frequency due to eliminating driver fatigue
• A 1.9 times improvement in driver retention.
