Since 2015, the Rush Sleep Disorders Service and Research Center has experienced significant growth, embracing the utilization of emerging technologies essential to the current and future practice of sleep medicine. A new inpatient program for screening and diagnosis of sleep apnea was developed in 2016, along with strong home-based testing for sleep apnea. During fiscal year 2023, The Sleep Center had nearly 5000 new and 9000 return patient visits. During the same year we completed approximately 3000 facility-based (in-laboratory) sleep studies and close to 1600 home sleep apnea tests. The Pediatric Sleep Center performs nearly 400 in-laboratory sleep studies per year.
Rush Sleep Center utilizes a cloud-based positive airway pressure therapy compliance program which allows for monitoring of patient’s devices and performing therapeutic changes remotely. We have more than 10,000 patients being monitored through this cloud-based system. We are now one of the busiest centers in Chicago offering upper airway stimulation therapy, co-managing patients to include upper airway stimulation titration studies.
The expansion of clinical services allowed concomitant expansion in residency and fellowship training and research and teaching opportunities in sleep medicine. The sleep medicine rotation has become popular with medical students along with residents in neurology, psychiatry, internal medicine, family medicine, ENT and fellows in pulmonary and critical care medicine.
Rush’s capacity to perform outpatient pediatric sleep studies and inpatient sleep studies in the pediatric intensive care unit also expanded. Craniofacial surgeons at Rush are offering a state of the art, individualized surgical approach to patients with craniofacial abnormalities, and we are working closely with dentists that are board certified in Dental Sleep Medicine for oral appliance therapy for OSA, bruxism and snoring. At the same time, several weight management programs were launched at Rush and are now available to support our patients when needed, and we are looking forward to collaborating with cardiology for diaphragmatic pacing for patients with central sleep apnea disorders.