A multidisciplinary approach to the home management of continuous positive airway pressure therapy for obstructive sleep apnea: beyond usual care pathways (a narrative review).

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common chronic condition that is growing in prevalence, associated with important comorbidities, and has several different phenotypes. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the gold standard OSA treatment, but its effectiveness relies on consistent adherence, which can often be difficult to maintain. This narrative review discusses current challenges in the care pathways for CPAP therapy management in OSA, including fragmented care/lack of continuity, inadequate management of comorbidities, suboptimal implementation of digital medicine solutions, and existing reimbursement paradigms. Key tasks to be shared between the appropriate healthcare professionals and providers include technical CPAP follow-up (adherence, effectiveness, alert management), management of comorbidities, and multimodal non-invasive monitoring. What this looks like and who provides the different aspects of care should vary by OSA phenotype, ranging from simple follow-up in primary care (uncomplicated OSA with good CPAP adherence) to multidisciplinary specialist management (high-risk OSA with comorbidities), with regular reassessment to ensure continued alignment with the chosen care plan. In addition to better defining these pathways, how they are reimbursed also needs to be addressed. We suggest that there should be a multidisciplinary approach to symptom reduction and adherence, longitudinal assessment of patient-reported outcomes, and a focus on long-term cardiometabolic health as part of managing CPAP-treated patients with OSA. Facilitated by the appropriate use of digital technologies, these approaches should lead to more personalized care and greater patient engagement, resulting in better long-term adherence and treatment effectiveness. The ultimate goal should be to do better for less.