Vigillo — provider of a Web-based risk management platform for the delivery of policies, forms, training, assessments and management reports to the trucking industry — today, May 5, announced an alliance with Sleep HealthCenters (SHC), nationally renowned experts in the field of sleep medicine. The announcement was made at the National Private Truck Council Education Management Conference in Nashville, Tenn.
Under the agreement, Vigillo and SHC have designed a 14-step process to track and monitor large numbers of mobile work force employees. The companies say the combined use of the Vigillo Web-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) risk management system and SHC’s Sleep Health Wellness Program will streamline identifying, diagnosing, treating and monitoring compliance of drivers in a sleep apnea prevention program.
“The diagnosis and treatment of truck drivers with sleep disorders is an increasingly important issue for the trucking industry and a key risk factor for trucking companies to consider,” says Steven G. Bryan, chief executive officer of Vigillo, based in Portland, Ore. “The Vigillo partnership with SHC brings a high level of combined value in terms of tracking and monitoring the diagnosis, treatment and compliance of truck drivers with a fleet’s efforts to combat sleep apnea, a safety-related disorder.”
Founded in 1997, SHC offers a full range of diagnostic and treatment services for sleep disorders through 15 sleep medicine centers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York City, as well a national partnership network (SleepPartners) comprised of more than 200 sleep medicine centers. The program includes educating employees about risk factors and tips on how to avoid drowsy driving. In addition, screening surveys are designed to predict which drivers should see a sleep specialist so trucking companies can send at-risk employees for a thorough review of their sleep health. Treatment for obstructive sleep apnea can include Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) devices and follow-up care for drivers.
“Healthy sleep is vital to employee wellness and safety, but for trucking companies, it can be difficult to implement a program for employees who live in different places, have different primary care physicians and maybe even different health insurance coverage,” says Dr. Kirsty J. Kerin, director of strategic development at SHC, based in Brighton, Mass. “With the Vigillo system and its Scorecard Suite of reports, we can greatly simplify the process for fleet managers.”
The Vigillo Scorecard Suite of reports includes a risk score based on factors such as accidents, customer service, rules violations, training and incidents for individual drivers, groups of drivers, managers and locations. In conjunction with SHC, drivers that are noncompliant with the use of PAP devices can be identified easily and quickly, Vigillo says.
The Scorecard Suite is part of the Vigillo Web-based SaaS platform designed to enable managers to better prepare and respond to the many high-risk situations encountered when operating truck fleets. According to the company, potential benefits of adopting the Web-based easy-to-use system include addressing problems before they become emergencies, lowering costs through improved time management and increased employee productivity, reducing turnover and improving insurance risk profiles.
