Highmark Health is diversifying its for-profit operations with a first-of-its-kind retail store focused on sleep apnea and other sleep problems. I'll definitely be looking into getting equipment at REMworks.
By Bill Toland / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
With millions of Americans suffering from sleep apnea, and millions more who simply have a tough time getting their nightly eight hours, Pittsburgh health giant Highmark is betting its new “sleep store” could fill a market niche unmet by existing clinics and medial suppliers.
In December, Highmark plans to open REMWorks Sleep Store in the Homestead area’s Waterfront shopping district.
Part clinic, part spa, part retail store, part medical equipment purveyor, Highmark is casting a wide net, hoping to catch those with clinically diagnosed issues, as well as people whose habits and lifestyles — split shifts, lots of air travel, chronic insomnia, teeth grinding — make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep.
It’s not a mattress store, though, and it’s not a sleep lab, said Amy Phillips, director of the REMWorks store. She said she believes the store is the first of its kind, providing patients with durable medical equipment — continuous positive airway pressure machines, as well as CPAP masks — and over-the-counter sleep remedies and accouterments: white noise machines, specialized bedding and pillows, teas and aromatherapies.
The over-the-counter devices and remedies account for about three-quarters of the store’s stock space, Ms. Phillips said. For those with clinically diagnosed apnea issues, the store acts as both a provider — it accepts health insurance — as well as a durable medical equipment company.
But “we’re focusing only on sleep,” Ms. Phillips said. “That makes us different than other [durable medical equipment] companies.”
Durable medical equipment companies usually serve as middlemen, ordering medical devices — wheelchairs, walkers, beds, scooters — from manufacturers and supplying them to medical offices or directly to patients. Typically, they don’t open retail storefronts, particularly when it comes to sleep supplies, and manufacturers don’t like to bypass durable medical equipment companies.
One manufacturer that tried was Murrysville-based Respironics. In 2012, Philips Respironics and Kroger launched a pilot retail partnership — seven Kroger’s pharmacies in Ohio displayed and sold replacement supplies for Respironics’ CPAP devices, masks and tubing accessories.
But durable medical equipment companies didn’t like being cut out of the equation, said Edward Grandi, the former head of the American Sleep Apnea Association, and the pilot never materialized into a broader retail campaign for Respironics.
“I think there’s probably going to be some durable medical equipment people who are going to be upset,” Mr. Grandi said. “But this shows a commitment on Highmark’s part on addressing the importance of sleep … they’re taking this thing seriously.”
Others take it seriously, too, and sleep care is a crowded market. The Sleep Center of Greater Pittsburgh has 15 locations; LifeLine Center for Sleep Disorders has seven; UPMC has a sleep medicine center in Oakland; and Highmark’s own Allegheny Health Network has its own sleep medicine specialists.
The new Highmark venture may also tread on the feet of Apria Healthcare and Lincare, which both supply respiratory and oxygen therapy equipment. Both have Pittsburgh-area locations.
But challenging existing clinics and suppliers isn’t a bad thing, Mr. Grandi said, and bringing a variety of services and treatments under one roof is a novel approach.
“My sense is that if it makes [equipment] less expensive, if it improves access to therapy, then it’s a success,” he said.
The REMWorks store — which will be staffed by sleep coaches, nurses and a respiratory therapist — will be in the former UPS Store along East Waterfront Drive.
This is Highmark’s second retail location in the Waterfront; it also operates a Visionworks eyewear and vision store there.
Visionworks, a Highmark subsidiary, is a chain with 640 locations in 40 states. Might the REMWorks model be exported to other cities?
“The sky could be the limit, if this is something consumers really want,” Ms. Phillips said.