SUMMARY
Timothy I. Morgenthaler, M.D., studies complex sleep-disordered breathing, such as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, central alveolar hypoventilation and various kinds of central sleep apnea. In collaboration with other researchers in Mayo Clinic's Center for Sleep Medicine, Dr. Morgenthaler has research interests in the relationship between sleep-disordered breathing and its effect on other important clinical outcomes, such as cardiovascular or endocrine complications through epidemiologic and interventional studies. In addition, as colleagues in an active clinical sleep medicine practice, they participate in ongoing research regarding health care utilization and comparative effectiveness related to treatments and interventions in sleep disorders.
Dr. Morgenthaler also serves as Mayo Clinic's chief patient safety officer. Together with colleagues from the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Dr. Morgenthaler uses analytics to improve the quality, safety and value of health care and create better patient experiences.
Focus areas
- Effect of adaptive servo-ventilation treatment of central sleep apnea on health care utilization
- Clinical utility of commercially available "sleep trackers"
- Effect of perioperative obstructive sleep apnea detection and management on inpatient and outpatient outcomes
- Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis programs and their effectiveness in preventing clinically significant venous thromboembolism
- Clinical complexity of patients seen in sleep centers over time
Significance to patient care
Dr. Morgenthaler and his colleagues contributed significantly to the description of a new clinical syndrome called complex sleep apnea syndrome and later named treatment-emergent central sleep apnea. Their research helped bring a new form of treatment, adaptive servo-ventilation, into common use as part of the treatment for this new kind of sleep-disordered breathing. Dr. Morgenthaler has also been a leader in the development of numerous clinical guidelines endorsed by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Under his leadership as chief patient safety officer, Mayo Clinic has emerged as one of the safest places to receive inpatient and outpatient sleep disorder care in the world.