Over 40 million people aren’t getting enough sleep

There has been an elevated awareness of sleep benefits and necessity among the general population. In the not so distant past the issue of sleep was treated as an afterthought or inconvenience. However, advances in the sleep sciences have uncovered its ties to everything from obesity to diabetes, heart and stroke risks, as well as auto accidents.

According to the Center for Disease Control, roughly a third of working Americans, or more than 40 million people, aren’t getting enough sleep.

You would think with the awareness of sleep advancing at an unprecedented pace that our sleep disorder clinics would be bursting at the seams. However, changes in medical care, reimbursement cuts combined with greater demands in time and technology have left many clinics to sort out the ensuing dust storm of obsolete business models that were commonplace over the last few decades.

In an effort to understand how some were able to overcome these obstacles, succeed and thrive while others were closing their doors we decided to interview one of the visionary consultants in the market. Mr. Jeremy Andra, RPSGT, RST has helped many sleep clinics throughout the nation succeed.  Before doing the interview we made assumptions that we would hear about complex business models, downsizing, and using the sleep to drive ancillary services. We were surprised that much of the positive changes came down to furnishings. You heard right, furnishings!

So how can furnishings dramatically reduce the cost of doing business and allow in-lab testing to be cost effective and viable in the current climate of sleep lab testing?

Mr. Jeremy Andra explained that often the business of sleep medicine can be more complicated than the medical diagnosis and treatment of sleep medicine. Second only to employee costs is the cost of the medical space. Business models in the past had space for daytime operations that primarily consisted of exam rooms and nighttime space for the sleep studies that primarily consisted of bedroom like atmospheres. The exam rooms sat empty at night and the sleep clinic space remained empty all day. The key was to combine the spaces so the single space could be used around the clock. This would eliminate the need to build out and maintain a separate space for sleep and be the most efficient use of space.

Mr. Andra sought out Wilding Wallbeds to design Clinical grade furnishings to create a multifunctional room that would allow for exam rooms during the day and sleep clinics by night.

Why did you use Wilding Wallbeds?

Jeremy Andra: Although at the time this Utah based company was over 900 miles away from where I was located, it became apparently clear this was the only company for the job. Wilding Wallbeds and its master craftsmen had been making quality consumer wall beds without compromise for over two decades. They used real hardwoods and did not look to cut corners with particle board and cheap laminates. If there was a medical grade product to be made this would be the group to do it. Wilding Wallbeds knocked it out of the park. The end product was safe, dependable and gorgeous pieces of furnishings for physician offices it would occupy.

So how does it all Work?

During the Day one of the cabinets drops down and becomes the exam table. There is also generally a desk cabinet for the practitioner to work from. It becomes a fully functional exam room.

During the Night the exam table folds back into its cabinet and the sleep clinic bed drops down making a fully functional sleep lab. Generally, the desk can now be used by the patient to fill out paperwork.

How have the results been embraced by the medical community?

Jeremy Andra: It’s been accepted with great excitement and great relief to the clinics to provide this solution. They are able to continue performing studies in a fiscal manner that benefits both the business and the patient. It’s exciting to see their love for the furnishings that mirror what has been seen with consumers that purchased the home versions of the Wilding Wallbeds product line. I personally believed in the product so much that I left Washington State and moved to the beautiful city of St. George to join Wilding Wallbeds as their new director of business development. I realized that we not only had a great product that would create real solutions for Clinics, but there were other product ideas that I believe needed to become a reality. We look forward to sharing these exciting new products in the near future. In the meantime we hope you all sleep well knowing that you have such a quality company in your own backyard. I hope you can all stop by to introduce yourself and see the product for yourself.