Every employee wants to perform well. They show up ready to contribute, solve problems, and meet expectations.
Yet for millions of workers, performance erodes for reasons they cannot see. Fatigue. Mental fog. Declining focus. Tasks that once felt manageable become exhausting.
In many cases, the underlying cause is undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea.
For employers, the impact is measurable. Productivity declines. Healthcare costs rise. High performers disengage or leave. All while the root cause remains untreated.
The Business Impact of Undiagnosed Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea carries a significant economic burden.
According to Frost and Sullivan, sleep apnea costs the U.S. economy nearly 150 billion dollars annually. The largest component is lost productivity, estimated at 86.9 billion dollars per year.
Employers often see the symptoms before employees recognize the condition.
Rising healthcare costs
Employees seek care for headaches, anxiety, hypertension, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. These costs accumulate without identifying sleep apnea as the driver.
Declining productivity
Work takes longer. Output quality slips. Reliable employees begin missing deadlines or requiring additional oversight.
Increased errors
Poor sleep impairs attention and decision-making. Errors rise in roles requiring precision, including analytics, customer service, and safety-critical work.
Safety incidents
Fatigue-related accidents increase workers’ compensation claims and regulatory exposure, especially in manufacturing, transportation, and construction.
Turnover and disengagement
High performers who cannot maintain their standards disengage or leave. They rarely realize a treatable condition is undermining their performance.
These are measurable business consequences from a problem most employees do not know they have.
Why Employees Do Not Seek Care
Sleep apnea is uniquely difficult to address because the people most affected are often the least able to pursue evaluation.
As performance declines, workloads increase. Time for medical appointments disappears.
This creates a reinforcing cycle.
Poor sleep reduces performance.
Lower performance increases stress and workload.
Higher demands eliminate time for care.
Sleep quality worsens.
Employees often attribute these changes to stress, aging, or burnout. The possibility of an underlying medical condition rarely enters the equation.
Why Traditional Benefits Fall Short
Most employers already offer sleep health coverage. Coverage alone is not the issue.
The traditional diagnostic pathway requires:
Multiple appointments during work hours
Long waits for specialists
Complex referral and insurance coordination
Four to six months from concern to treatment
For fatigued employees, this process is impractical.
As a result, an estimated 70 to 80 percent of employees with obstructive sleep apnea remain undiagnosed despite having coverage. Employers pay for benefits that employees cannot realistically use.
A Care Model Built for How Employees Work
Arima Health delivers sleep care through a virtual-first model designed to remove these barriers.
Screening, evaluation, and follow-up occur digitally. Employees do not need time away from work.
Time to diagnosis is measured in days, not months. Treatment begins while motivation is still high.
Clinical coordination, insurance verification, and logistics are handled within the care pathway. Employees are guided step by step without administrative burden.
Sleep testing is completed at home. Treatment follows directly from diagnosis without unnecessary handoffs.
The result is higher completion rates and faster improvement in health and performance.
What Changes When Employees Receive Treatment
When employees complete diagnosis and treatment, the impact is measurable.
Productivity improves
Focus, energy, and cognitive function return within weeks. Employees regain the ability to manage complex work.
Healthcare costs decline
Treating sleep apnea early prevents downstream conditions. Annual healthcare costs associated with untreated sleep apnea are significantly reduced.
Analysts estimate that diagnosing and treating all individuals with sleep apnea in the U.S. could generate approximately 100 billion dollars in annual savings.
Retention increases
Employees re-engage when health barriers are removed. Employers retain experienced talent and institutional knowledge.
Safety improves
Reduced fatigue leads to fewer accidents and lower workers’ compensation costs.
Engagement rises
When work no longer feels like a constant struggle, morale and collaboration improve.
Sleep health is not a perk. It is a performance driver.
Conclusion
Your employees want to perform well. Many cannot because undiagnosed sleep apnea makes work harder than it should be.
Arima Health addresses this by redesigning sleep care around access, speed, and completion.
Earlier diagnosis. Faster treatment. Better outcomes for employees and employers alike.
References
Wickwire EM. Value-based sleep and breathing: health economic aspects of obstructive sleep apnea. Faculty Reviews. 2021.
Garvey JF et al. The public health burden of obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep Science. 2021.
Silva GE et al. Association between obstructive sleep apnea and multiple involuntary job loss history among recently unemployed adults. Sleep Health. 2021.
The economic cost of obstructive sleep apnea: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2023.
Thompson C et al. Risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea in middle-aged and older adults. Scientific Reports. 2022.
American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Economic burden of undiagnosed sleep apnea in the U.S. Press Release. 2016.
