Covidien (Boulder, Colorado) reported the launch of Sandman Alliance, a sleep therapy management program. The Sandman Alliance program is the latest addition to Covidien's "Unite to Treat Sleep Apnea" initiative to improve the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders.

The Sandman Alliance program unites patients, sleep clinicians and home care providers in their efforts to treat obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and other sleep disorders. The patient compliance program provides education, support and encouragement to OSA patients to enhance treatment compliance through personal coaching and empowerment. The program links a sleep counselor with each patient to document progress and track the patient's therapy using a web interface, which provides a common area for the patient's sleep physician to log in and monitor the patient's performance under the program.

"Patient adherence to therapy is critical to realizing the full potential health benefits to CPAP treatment," said Dr. Veronique Grillier-Lanoir, global medical affairs director for sleep and oxygen at Covidien.