Robb W Wrote:Preaching to the choir. And I am sorry that I used the abbreviations in my post. A bad habit that I got into when doing my notes. (yes Pt is short for patient) I never use the long version of HST because I don't agree that it is a "Sleep Test" at all and I disagree fully with the term test. I think that it should be called a Home Apnea Screening Tool. The word test indicates something that suggests success or failure and a study is a win-win situation as far as I am concerned.
I am not just a technologist. I am a CPAP user myself and I have been one far longer than I have been a tech. I firmly agree that if a patient is ambitious enough, he/she SHOULD and is fully obligated to take some responsibility for their treatment. An MD is not infallible and unless they are fully specialized in Sleep Medicine are not qualified to write anything but a prescription. We don't know who read that Home screening and assessed the Periodic Limb Movements of Sleep (PLMS) but they were way off in the diagnosis based on the tools they were using.
With 70% of the business being drawn away from the labs to home studies, something in that technology will need to improve in order to take into account the undiagnosable sleep disorders. This will in turn cost money which will end up driving up the cost of the home screenings. But the improvements will not let people slip through the cracks.
I remember when I was diagnosed in 1999 it was a rare occurrence that people were sent for lab studies. I often think about all those parents that died of cardiac issues and strokes before their 70s and I am sure you will find that they had undiagnosed OSA or something related. Especially if their children were later diagnosed with OSA in a sleep study.
The fact that we are saving lives and adding to the quality of other people's lives is why I do what I do. I am fully in it for the patient and not the paycheck.
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Home Sleep Tests: Are they the future for OSA Diagnosis?
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05-11-2012, 10:20 AM
RE: Home Sleep Tests: Are they the future for OSA Diagnosis?
05-11-2012, 10:21 AM
RE: Home Sleep Tests: Are they the future for OSA Diagnosis?
Gavino V Wrote:Robb, I remember from previous posts of yours on other topics that you are a user, so no disrespect meant there. Robb W Wrote:Agreed
05-11-2012, 10:22 AM
RE: Home Sleep Tests: Are they the future for OSA Diagnosis?
Robb W Wrote:Kath, I went to your site and I am very interested to see how those Sleep Strips work. My 15 year old son refuses to believe that he may have OSA due to either tonsils or an inherited small airway (also my problem). I have been trying to find a way to test him and he refuses to go to a lab. I never argued with my parents when I had to go to the doctors the way my son does. You would think that having a Dad that is a tech would be enough to trust judgement. However, not the case. Kath H Wrote:Rob, you are in exactly the same position as I am with my kids - both of them need testing for different reasons, but won't hear of going down 'the route' in case they have to use CPAP. However, my son has agreed to use a Sleep Strip (he's 17) and my daughter promises to investigate it before she's ready to start a family.
05-11-2012, 10:23 AM
RE: Home Sleep Tests: Are they the future for OSA Diagnosis?
Robb W Wrote:nice. I am going to talk to my wife and see if she thinks buying one of those may be beneficial. I assume that if I was to pick them up at your store they would be about $60 USD? I am not sure what the UK conversion is. Kath H Wrote:Think it only works out at around $48 plus shipping actually, but international customers usually pay via Paypal which converts it automatically.
05-11-2012, 10:25 AM
RE: Home Sleep Tests: Are they the future for OSA Diagnosis?
IDS Wrote:Hi there, my name is Stacie Felice and I work for [company name removed]. We are a diagnostic testing facility specializing in Overnight Pulse-oximetry testing and Home Sleep Testing.
05-11-2012, 10:26 AM
RE: Home Sleep Tests: Are they the future for OSA Diagnosis?
Kath H Wrote:That's interesting IDS...... didn't realize doctor's had to order a Home Sleep Test. Anyone in the UK can arrange to have a Home Sleep Test without a doctor's referral. In actual fact, most people who take this option do this because their doctors do not take their symptoms seriously Hence the fact that we sell the sleep strips so they can taken them as evidence to their doctor's to be referred to the hospitals. If a doctor does refer a person for a sleep study, they do not have to pay for this, as it is covered under the National Health Service here. The problem likes with persuading the doctors to send them! IDS Wrote:Wow. That's interesting, Kath. I wonder if more folks would do it by themselves over here in the states if they could? Thanks for your info!!
05-11-2012, 05:27 PM
RE: Home Sleep Tests: Are they the future for OSA Diagnosis?
Robb W Wrote:I disagree with you on a lot of what you said Stacie. If what you said was true, then tell me why the patient volume bottomed out in a lot of labs in MA when insurers opted for HSTs as a first line diagnosis tool for OSA? Why did at least four labs that I know of close their doors? Why did good techs lose jobs? |
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