Kathleen Sarmiento
Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

Her current grant will assess the value of home sleep apnea testing in a broad range of comorbidities and pre-test risk for OSA, as well as study the impact of an initial consultation before sleep testing on adherence to therapy, patient satisfaction, and patient outcomes. Through the national implementation of VA’s TeleSleep Program, a variety of synchronous and asynchronous modalities to improve access, quality, and timeliness of care are evaluated. Dr. Sarmiento is also engaged in clinical research evaluating virtual care for sleep disorder evaluation and management, and hospital to home transitions and the benefit of non-invasive ventilation on morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic respiratory failure. She is an innovator and early adopter of technology, seeking to incorporate AI and machine learning into care delivery models to improve practice efficiency and patient outcomes.

• Sustainment of the TeleSleep program for rural veterans.
  Frontiers in health services 2023 Belkora JK, Ortiz DeBoque L, Folmer RL, Totten AM, Williams K, Whooley MA, Boudreau E, Atwood CW, Zeidler M, Rezayat T, Chilakamarri P, Sarmiento KF
• Travel Burden as a Measure of Healthcare Access and the Impact of Telehealth within the Veterans Health Administration.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2023 Hahn Z, Hotchkiss J, Atwood C, Smith C, Totten A, Boudreau E, Folmer R, Chilakamarri P, Whooley M, Sarmiento K
• Examining the bidirectional relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters and PAP adherence.
  Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2023 Colvonen PJ, Goldstein LA, Sarmiento KF
• Veterans Health Administration TeleSleep Enterprise-Wide Initiative 2017-2020: bringing sleep care to our nation's veterans.
  Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2023 Chun VS, Whooley MA, Williams K, Zhang N, Zeidler MR, Atwood CW, Folmer RL, Totten AM, Smith CJ, Boudreau EA, Reichert JM, Sarmiento KF
• Veterans Health Administration response to 2021 recall of Philips Respironics devices: A case study.
  Frontiers in sleep 2023 Belkora JK, Fields B, Shamim-Uzzaman QA, Stratford D, Alfandre D, Hollingshaus S, Yackel E, Geppert C, Nechanicky P, Nichols A, Williams K, Reichert J, Whooley MA, Francis J, Sarmiento KF
• International Consensus Statement on Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
  International forum of allergy & rhinology 2023 Chang JL, Goldberg AN, Alt JA, Mohammed A, Ashbrook L, Auckley D, Ayappa I, Bakhtiar H, Barrera JE, Bartley BL, Billings ME, Boon MS, Bosschieter P, Braverman I, Brodie K, Cabrera-Muffly C, Caesar R, …
• Sleep disorders among rural Veterans: Relative prevalence, comorbidities, and comparisons with urban Veterans.
  The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association 2022 Folmer RL, Smith CJ, Boudreau EA, Totten AM, Chilakamarri P, Atwood CW, Sarmiento KF
• Barriers to positive airway pressure adherence among veterans with sleep apnea: a mixed methods study.
  Translational behavioral medicine 2022 Goldstein LA, Purcell N, Sarmiento KF, Neylan TC, Maguen S
• Study protocol to assess de-implementation of the initial provider encounter for diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea: the DREAM (Direct Referral for Apnea Monitoring) Project.
  BMC pulmonary medicine 2022 Folmer RL, Boudreau EA, Atwood CW, Smith CJ, Totten AM, Tock JL, Chilakamarri P, Sarmiento KF
• Epidemiology of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis among U.S. Veterans, 2010-2019.
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2022 Kaul B, Lee JS, Zhang N, Vittinghoff E, Sarmiento K, Collard HR, Whooley MA
• Long-term effects of solriamfetol on quality of life and work productivity in participants with excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea.
  Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2021 Weaver TE, Pepin JL, Schwab R, Shapiro C, Hedner J, Ahmed M, Foldvary-Schaefer N, Strollo PJ, Mayer G, Sarmiento K, Baladi M, Bron M, Chandler P, Lee L, Malhotra A
• Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of a novel web-based sleep apnea management platform.
  Sleep 2021 Chang YHA, Folmer RL, Shasha B, Shea JA, Sarmiento K, Stepnowsky CJ, Lim D, Pack A, Kuna ST
• Does Community Outsourcing Improve Timeliness of Care for Veterans With Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
  Medical care 2021 Kaul B, Hynes DM, Hickok A, Smith C, Niederhausen M, Totten AM, Whooley MA, Sarmiento K
• Leveraging Telehealth to improve access to care: a qualitative evaluation of Veterans' experience with the VA TeleSleep program.
  BMC health services research 2021 Nicosia FM, Kaul B, Totten AM, Silvestrini MC, Williams K, Whooley MA, Sarmiento KF
• Implementation Strategies for Frontline Healthcare Professionals: People, Process Mapping, and Problem Solving.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2020 Lu AD, Kaul B, Reichert J, Kilbourne AM, Sarmiento KF, Whooley MA
• Effects of Computer-Based Documentation Procedures on Health Care Workload Assessment and Resource Allocation: An Example From VA Sleep Medicine Programs.
  Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS 2020 Sarmiento KF, Boudreau EA, Smith CJ, Kaul B, Johnson N, Folmer RL
• Prevalence and management of sleep disorders in the Veterans Health Administration.
  Sleep medicine reviews 2020 Folmer RL, Smith CJ, Boudreau EA, Hickok AW, Totten AM, Kaul B, Stepnowsky CJ, Whooley MA, Sarmiento KF
• Comparing VA and Community-Based Care: Trends in Sleep Studies Following the Veterans Choice Act.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2020 Weaver FM, Hickok A, Prasad B, Tarlov E, Zhang Q, Taylor A, Bartle B, Gordon H, Young R, Sarmiento K, Hynes DM
• Long-term study of the safety and maintenance of efficacy of solriamfetol (JZP-110) in the treatment of excessive sleepiness in participants with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea.
  Sleep 2020 Malhotra A, Shapiro C, Pepin JL, Hedner J, Ahmed M, Foldvary-Schaefer N, Strollo PJ, Mayer G, Sarmiento K, Baladi M, Chandler P, Lee L, Schwab R
• National Expansion of Sleep Telemedicine for Veterans: The TeleSleep Program.
  Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2019 Sarmiento KF, Folmer RL, Stepnowsky CJ, Whooley MA, Boudreau EA, Kuna ST, Atwood CW, Smith CJ, Yarbrough WC
• Comorbidities, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Work Productivity Among People With Obstructive Sleep Apnea With Excessive Sleepiness: Findings From the 2016 US National Health and Wellness Survey.
  Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2019 Stepnowsky C, Sarmiento KF, Bujanover S, Villa KF, Li VW, Flores NM
• Advancing Treatment of Comorbid PTSD and OSA.
  Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2017 Goldstein LA, Colvonen PJ, Sarmiento KF
• Utility of home sleep apnea testing in high-risk veterans.
  Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung 2017 Cairns A, Sarmiento K, Bogan R
• Treatment of OSA with CPAP Is Associated with Improvement in PTSD Symptoms among Veterans.
  Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2017 Orr JE, Smales C, Alexander TH, Stepnowsky C, Pillar G, Malhotra A, Sarmiento KF
• ATS Core Curriculum 2016: Part I. Adult Sleep Medicine.
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2016 Balachandran JS, Thomson CC, Sumter DB, Shelgikar AV, Lachapelle P, Pamidi S, Fall M, Lal C, Baba RY, Shah N, Fields BG, Sarmiento K, Butler MP, Shea SA, Baptiste JV, Sharkey KM, Wang T
• Mechanisms and implications of the link between sleep apnoea and chronic kidney disease.
  Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) 2016 Hepokoski ML, Wali AR, Sarmiento KF
• Weaving the Internet of Sleep: The Future of Patient-Centric Collaborative Sleep Health Management Using Web-Based Platforms.
  Sleep 2015 Stepnowsky C, Sarmiento KF, Amdur A
• Stimulating Progress in the Upper Airway.
  Sleep 2015 Orr JE, Ishman SL, Sarmiento KF
• The state of Veterans Affairs sleep medicine programs: 2012 inventory results.
  Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung 2015 Sarmiento K, Rossettie J, Stepnowsky C, Atwood C, Calvitti A, VA Sleep Network
• Obstructive sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation: is the link real?
  Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2014 Malhotra A, Neilan TG, Sarmiento K
• Accuracy of positive airway pressure device-measured apneas and hypopneas: role in treatment followup.
  Sleep disorders 2013 Stepnowsky C, Zamora T, Barker R, Liu L, Sarmiento K
• Update in sleep medicine 2012.
  American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2013 Kohli P, Sarmiento K, Malhotra A
• Development of hepatic failure despite use of intravenous acetylcysteine after a massive ingestion of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine.
  Annals of emergency medicine 2008 Schwartz EA, Hayes BD, Sarmiento KF