Phillips Korea aims to expand its market share in the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) market with its connected care solution, as the government has extended insurance coverage for CPAP treatment and sleep polyvalence tests.

Julian Cho, Philips Korea’s general manager for sleep and respiratory care, introduces the company’s connected care solution during a news conference at the Plaza Seoul on Wednesday.

CPAP therapy is a non-invasive therapy that sends a constant flow of airway pressure to support the airway to the throat during sleep to cure pauses in breathing. The device is the first-line treatment for patients with sleep apnea.

With the government’s announcement on extended insurance coverage, the market for CPAP has dramatically increased. The CPAP rental fee, which was about 330,000 won ($292) a month, dropped to about one-twentieth to 16,500 to 25,500 won with the insurance coverage.

That explains why the number of registered firms with the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) and the number of ambulatory registries managed by the agency are increasing steadily, the company said in a news conference Wednesday.

Currently, ResMed Korea controls the majority of the local market where some 10 companies are competing.

According to the NHIS data on registered CPAP device for insurance, out of about 15,000 CPAP devices that received insurance benefits in January of this year, ResMed’s device accounted for 52 percent, followed by Philips Korea with 26 percent and Weinmann, 14 percent.

In the news conference, Philips Korea introduced its connected care solution that will ultimately help expand its market share in the CPAP market. Philips Korea’s connected care solution consists of DreamStation CPAP, DreamWear CPAP mask, and a mobile application DreamMapper.

DreamStation CPAP has various features, including EZ-Start for first-time users, and SmartRamp which helps users who are having trouble with sleeping due to the air pressure of CPAP. Also, DreamWear CPAP mask delivers a more comfortable fit with soft and flexible silicone material and helps its user to sleep in a more comfortable position with 360-degree rotatable air tube connection.

DreamMapper is a sleep management application for the DreamStation CPAP, which can automatically receive the data of the DreamStation’s usage via Bluetooth. Users can check critical data including the hours of use of the CPAP device, apnea-hypopnea index(AHI) and the score of a mask fit, which are necessary for the treatment of sleep apnea, along with graphs showing changes in each category of data.

“By providing a systematic sleep apnea care solution, we can help doctors manage sleep apnea patients more effectively and make it easier for patients to access care at home,” said Julian Cho, general manager of Philips Korea’s Sleep and Respiratory Care. “As the government announced the inclusion of polysomnography and CPAP therapies in national health insurance in July 2018, Philips has helped patients manage their sleep apnea by launching a CPAP rental service and a call center for users.”

The company will offer a total solution for sleep health management based on strict product management, differentiated customer care service, and systematic home care solution, Cho added.

Regarding the company’s long-term strategy, Cho said, “ Philips will present connected care solution to help medical professionals manage their patients more effectively and also help the patients access treatment at home in a more convenient way.”

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