Hello! I'm new here and trying to find a doctor in the Phoenix metro area that I can trust to treat my sleep apnea. I've read a lot of success stories and need someone to point me in the right direction. Thanks to all of you who responded, I have some places to check--Banner Hospital, The Mayo, and Uncle_Bob's doc. Uncle Bob, did your doc "require" you go to the cpap store he owns?

I still haven't heard from Arizona-Willie! If you're out there, Snorebert says you're happy with your doc who is a board-certified diplomate in sleep medicine. Could you please PM me with your doc's name and number? Thanks!

Back in February, Arizona Willie was bragging on a doc he had (read down this thread):
http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t46638/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=39016&p=341227#p341165 You may want to PM him to get the name.

I personally don't have a doc, sleep center or DME that I can recommend. I went to Arete in Chandler sleep center and suffice it to say, it was nothing like what uncle_bob described.

Best of Luck!

Dr Robert Hooper at AZ Lung/Scottsdale sleep center

http://www.scottsdalesleepcenter.com/

http://www.arizonalung.com/

Only bad thing is he has an interest in the DME located at his office so he will try and give you a bare bones CPAP but i manged to exchange mine for a full data compatible S8 Elite II just by asking.

Hi Golden Daze,
I have had 5 sleep studies. The circumstances on the first four could be described as back-room dumps, with a few keystone cops acting as Respiratory Therapists. Before my last test I got advice from some wise members of this forum to go to a doctor who was accredited by the American Board of Sleep Medicine. I followed their advice, got a doctor who had taken the tests to qualify as a Diplomate of the ABSM. He was knowledgeable & professional. The room was not super deluxe, but was attractive,with nice drapes & bedspread. It was sparkling clean and the mattress, unlike my other tests, wasn't falling apart. And, as an important factor, the therapists knew their job well.

To find available sites in Phoenix, I went to the the ABSN online site. They have two ABSM sites. The first caught my attention, It was the Mayo Clinic Sleep Apnea Clinic. The accredited Diplomate was listed as James Parish. Maybe other people on this board will know if they would recommend the Mayo Clinic site. There was another ABSM site listed in Phoenix.

You might check out the ABSM site, there were other cities listed. They may be close to you.

By checking out the doctors before you even have the tests, gives you the best opportunity for success as a Cpap user.

Best wishes . . Jan

Many hospitals have sleep centers...they usually don't advertise them...call around.
There are at least 2 in my area.

LSAT -
I think that you are right. Actually my first sleep study - some 15 years ago was done at the sleep center at Desert Samaritan (now Banner Desert) Hospital here in Arizona. I was referred by a pulmonary doc.

Golden Daze - http://www.bannerhealth.com/Locations/Arizona/Banner+Desert+Medical+Center/Programs+and+Services/Sleep+Center.htm
Not a recommendation. Just reporting.

-

Thank you for all the responses! The Banner Sleep Centers are in my insurance network but of course, The Mayo isn't. I'm looking for less of a hospital enviroment and more of a hotel experience. I'd also like the flexibility of having my script in hand so that I can decide where to buy my equipmnt.

If the sleep doctor owns the medical office, sleep lab, and the cpap store, is there a conflict of interest?

I'm wondering how objective is that doctor?

Thoughts on this anyone?

I use REM Medical and the Dr. is Dr. Gunnick ( as I remember spelling his name ).

Some photos of my sleep study center

Golden Daze wrote:Thank you for all the responses! The Banner Sleep Centers are in my insurance network but of course, The Mayo isn't. I'm looking for less of a hospital enviroment and more of a hotel experience. I'd also like the flexibility of having my script in hand so that I can decide where to buy my equipmnt.

If the sleep doctor owns the medical office, sleep lab, and the cpap store, is there a conflict of interest?

I'm wondering how objective is that doctor?

Thoughts on this anyone?

If the sleep doctor knows and trusts the sleep center and titrator then that's a good thing IMO. My doctor only has a part interest in the DME, something like a referral kick back. He does not care if i buy online. I've even used his DME to try on masks and then go online to purchase the mask.

There are three types of sleep center owners:

Sleep physicians — Sleep physicians own sleep centers to provide a service and control the quality of testing.

Hospitals and healthcare systems — Hospitals own centers to provide a service and direct patients to their other facilities and services.

Corporate, multi-location, multi-state systems, non-sleep physicians and those of unclear ownership — These centers are operated primarily to make a profit. The majority of their business is selling equipment needed to treat obstructive sleep apnea.

Arizona-Willie wrote:I use REM Medical and the Dr. is Dr. Gunnick ( as I remember spelling his name ).

AZ-Willie, thank you for the response. I had my first study at REM almost two years ago. Dr. Gunnick signed the report, but I never did meet him. Dr. Gross was their doc at that time. He left in the middle of our consultation with his buddy who just dropped by to take him out to lunch in his new sports car! The next time I went back to pick out a mask for the titration study, Dr. Gross was “no longer with REM.”

I do recall that my sleep study at REM was in a motel-type room with a simple queen-size bed, two nightstands, and a chair in the room. A half bath (toilet and sink) with no shower facilities was located down the hall. It was very inconvenient getting ready to go to bed that night and having to go down the hall to pee in the middle of the night.

I need a "home away from home" for the night. LOL

Thank you, Uncle_Bob, for the pics of your sleep study center. I really appreciate you taking the time to post them here. I wasn’t expecting a five-star resort hotel, but I was looking for something a little more comfortable and inviting. I’d like to find a sleep center that makes you feel relaxed enough to curl up and actually sleep there! The attached bathroom is nice, but it’s institutional, like you'd see in a hospital room. I think it’s important to follow good sleep hygiene, and my bedtime routine requires a bathtub for soaking. I don’t know if I’ll find a sleep center with a full bath, like I'd find in a hotel room, but I’m still looking for a sleep center with a full bath!

If a sleep doctor knows and trusts the sleep center and its titrator, that's one thing, but if the doctor owns the center and employs the titrator, that’s another. BTW, it’s very easy to verify ownership of a DME. Even if your doc had only a part interest in the DME, it still seems like a conflict of interest to me. You said the doc gets “something like a referral kickback.” Is that legal? You also said he doesn’t care if you buy online, so does that mean he’s willing to give you your script so you can buy a machine online, as well as a mask?

I am familiar with the various types of sleep centers, and I agree that physician-owned centers have the possibility of providing the best service to the patient. Personally, I do not like going to a hospital and cannot sleep very well in that environment. I don’t like chains either, whether it’s a hotel or a sleep lab, especially if their motive is to create a market for the equipment they’re selling.

I’m looking for a small business owner who has some understanding of the medical field and knows how to create a sleep center with a bed-and-breakfast atmosphere where the guest feels welcome and cozy for a night or two. Perhaps, such a place just doesn’t exist yet . . .

Golden Daze wrote:Thank you, Uncle_Bob, for the pics of your sleep study center. I really appreciate you taking the time to post them here. I wasn’t expecting a five-star resort hotel, but I was looking for something a little more comfortable and inviting. I’d like to find a sleep center that makes you feel relaxed enough to curl up and actually sleep there! The attached bathroom is nice, but it’s institutional, like you'd see in a hospital room. I think it’s important to follow good sleep hygiene, and my bedtime routine requires a bathtub for soaking. I don’t know if I’ll find a sleep center with a full bath, like I'd find in a hotel room, but I’m still looking for a sleep center with a full bath!

If a sleep doctor knows and trusts the sleep center and its titrator, that's one thing, but if the doctor owns the center and employs the titrator, that’s another. BTW, it’s very easy to verify ownership of a DME. Even if your doc had only a part interest in the DME, it still seems like a conflict of interest to me. You said the doc gets “something like a referral kickback.” Is that legal? You also said he doesn’t care if you buy online, so does that mean he’s willing to give you your script so you can buy a machine online, as well as a mask?

I am familiar with the various types of sleep centers, and I agree that physician-owned centers have the possibility of providing the best service to the patient. Personally, I do not like going to a hospital and cannot sleep very well in that environment. I don’t like chains either, whether it’s a hotel or a sleep lab, especially if their motive is to create a market for the equipment they’re selling.

I’m looking for a small business owner who has some understanding of the medical field and knows how to create a sleep center with a bed-and-breakfast atmosphere where the guest feels welcome and cozy for a night or two. Perhaps, such a place just doesn’t exist yet . . .

You are right the bathroom does get a bit institutional but they have to cater for handicap patients too. Could you not have a bath prior to arrival? You can bring some relaxing music or a DVD to watch while they wire you up, that process takes about an hour with a mask fitting as well.

The referral kick back is not the words he used it was more the impression i got.

Yes he is happy to write you a script and you go online and get one. He prefers to start patients on CPAP rather than APAP. But your CPAP scripts is good enough for you to walk away and buy a APAP on CPAP.com (I wish i had done that)

The bed and breakfast place sounds nice but I've never heard of one, especially covered by insurance. Why not have a partner or a friend stop by with a quick breakfast? or go for one after?

The sleep center that I saw at a local hospital looked very much like the one shown above...(not as nice pictures).
A bathtub ????...you must be kidding. The sleep centers want you in at 8PM and out at 6-7AM. It takes about 45 minutes to hook you up and about 15 minutes to take everything down. I personall used a privately owned sleep center that again looked very much like Uncle Bobs. It was very comfortable. I brought my laptop and played games until lights out at about 10:30.

No, LSAT, I’m not kidding! When I go on a business trip or a vacation, I certainly expect the hotel room to have a bathtub. It’s just standard. I don't think it has anything to do with insurance either. Accessibility for the handicapped is a requirement of any public restroom.

May be you prefer taking a shower . . . but I prefer to take an evening bath and can’t sleep at all unless I do. For me, a soothing bath is part of my prescribed sleep hygiene. I could have a nice, soothing soak at home and then go out to the sleep lab. I do live in Phoenix, so it's not that cold, even during the winter. Right!!!