Position paper on telemonitoring in sleep-related breathing disorders

The use of telemonitoring in the care of patients with sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) can enhance medical support significantly. Telemonitoring aims to help physicians detect therapy problems early and thus improve patients’ therapy adherence. Diagnostics and therapy decisions in the telemonitoring process nevertheless remain the responsibility of sleep specialists. The selection of data monitored, their evaluation and resulting consequences fall to the physician, who makes decisions and prescribes therapy in consultation with the patient. In light of professional legal and ethical requirements, it must be ensured that extensive changes to the process flow in sleep medicine are designed in a way to guarantee high-quality patient care. In this position paper, the German Sleep Society, the German Respiratory Society, the Association of Pneumological Hospitals and the Federal Association of German Pneumologists comment on important aspects for implementation of telemonitoring for SRBD and describe the basic conditions required for its use. © 2017, Springer Medizin Verlag Berlin.