It can be. Sleep is important to our overall well-being. It can even be a matter of life and death. For example, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Bureau are blaming sleep apnea for two recent commuter train crashes. It turns out engineers in both crashes lived with the disorder, but were undiagnosed. It is fairly prevalent. Roughly 5% of Americans have sleep apnea.

What does that mean for you? Consider your commute to work. How many drivers do you pass? For every 20 cars you spot, at least one driver is likely suffering from sleep apnea. That is a lot of potential crashes.

You can help

As a marketer you are in a position to help. Medicom Health’s Sleep Apnea HRA raises awareness for community members and if your hospital has a backlog for sleep studies the HRA can act as a pre-screener to segment High versus Low Risk users:

Sleep Service staff can automatically be notified to contact users who are High Risk and schedule appointments.

In doing so, you are offering useful content to everyone who completes the HRA, yet only funneling the most qualified patients to your Sleep Centers.

As you plan for social, SEM, or traditional marketing tactics, you may need some help determining who to target. We have seen great success creating like-audiences using the following:

• Males
• Overweight
• ≥ Age 40
• Large neck size (Men: ≥17″& Women: ≥16″)
• Large tonsils, tongue, or small jaw bone
• Family history of sleep apnea
• Acid Reflux
• Nasal obstruction due to a deviated septum, allergies, or sinus problems