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Diagnosing Sleep Apnea without Insurance (Mile High Sleeper) (Diagnosis and Prescription)
Diagnosing Sleep Apnea without Insurance These suggestions are written for people with a low income who don't have healthcare insurance (or who have extremely high deductibles), and who are not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. Only a doctor can make a diagnosis. First, do your homework about sleep apnea. Second, find a doctor who is informed about sleep disorders. 1.Realize that if you do have sleep apnea, your judgment may be somewhat impaired due to the toll that oxygen deprivation takes on your brain, energy levels, life perspective, and initiative. Consider enlisting a family member or friend to help you take the steps below, especially if you are fatigued, confused, or depressed. 2.Become informed about sleep apnea. (If you don't have a computer, use a friend's computer or library computer.) Read about the consequences of untreated sleep apnea in the article Are You Sleeping with the Enemy? at http://www.cpaptalk.com/cpaptalk-articles/sleep-apnea-prevalence-sleeping-enemy.html Read Evaluating Your Sleep at http://www.cpaptalk.com/cpaptalk-articles/evaluating-sleep-apnea.html 3.Take three online quizzes and print the quizzes and results for your doctor. The Berlin Questionnaire and Epworth Sleepiness Scale have the most credibility with doctors. Find the Berlin Questionnaire at Do You Have Sleep Apnea? The Best Place to Start at http://www.cpaptalk.com/cpaptalk-articles/prevalance-sleep-apnea.html Find the Epworth Scale in Evaluating Your Sleep at http://www.cpaptalk.com/cpaptalk-articles/evaluating-sleep-apnea.html An excellent quiz from the book Sleep Apnea - The Phantom of the Night lists symptoms at http://www.healthyresources.com/sleep/apnea/phantom/orders/quiz.html Do not rely on these quizzes for a diagnosis. They are designed to raise awareness (yours and your doctor's), not to diagnose. 4.If your energy levels, behaviors, symptoms, and quiz results raise a concern that you may have sleep apnea, realize that you need diagnosis. It may seem difficult or impossible to pay for a sleep study test and subsequent treatment. However, if you have untreated sleep apnea and it leads to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or some other serious condition affecting your work, it will be far more difficult to pay for treatment of that resulting condition. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." An upfront investment in a sleep study could save you untold costs of a more serious disease. An overnight sleep study in a hospital can cost $1500 and up. If diagnosed, a low-end CPAP machine for treatment costs around $300 bought new online. 5.Become informed about sleep tests by reading http://smart-sleep-apnea.blogspot.com/2006/09/sleep-study-tests.html See the sections about these important options: a split-night study, an at-home test, and a presentation for doctors, Not Every Patient Needs to Go to the Sleep Lab. 6.Find a doctor. If you have a regular doctor or clinic, are they actively aware of sleep disorders and their consequences? An option may be a sleep doctor, a doctor who specializes in sleep disorders. Here are three ways to find one. Phone a local hospital sleep lab, and ask if they can suggest a sleep doctor. Or find a local doctor at https://www.cpap.com/locator.php Or find a sleep doctor through the American Board of Sleep Medicine, go to http://www.absm.org/diplomates/listing.htm 7.Show the doctor your quiz results and discuss your symptoms. Explain your lack of insurance and financial circumstances and discuss options. Be aware that private healthcare insurance and Medicare require a sleep study before paying for CPAP equipment. If an overnight sleep study seems unaffordable, does the doctor ever use at-home screening? A Respironics brand auto PAP machine with a smart card and software can be used for a split night study and titration (finding your CPAP pressure setting.) Does the doctor ever use an auto PAP for these purposes? Read these articles below and ask your doctor's opinion: A. Dr. Barbara Phillips, American Lung Association of the Central Coast, November 2004, on the board of directors of the National Sleep Foundation. Not Every Patient Needs to Go to the Sleep Lab at http://www.alaccoast.org/pdf/Phillips_0830.pdf B. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Can Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Titrate Their Own Continuous Positive Airway Pressure? http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/full/167/5/716 Quote: Home self-titration of CPAP is as effective as in-laboratory manual titration in the management of patients with OSA. C. Nonattended home automated continuous positive airway pressure titration: Comparison with polysomnography http://www.sleepsolutions.com/clinical_library/Unattended_auto-CPAP.pdf Quote: Nasal APAP titration in this study correctly identified residual apnea equivalent to the use of PSG. This correct identification allows the physician to accurately access the efficacy of treatment. 8.If you and your doctor decide on a sleep study or CPAP machine, get costs upfront. A doctor's prescription is necessary for purchase of a CPAP machine. Internet CPAP sellers such as https://www.cpap.com are usually able to sell new machines at a much lower price than local Durable Medical Equipment suppliers, and provide advice as well. For information on CPAP machines, see http://www.cpaptalk.com/cpaptalk-articles/CPAP-machine-choices.html
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Diagnosing Sleep Apnea without Insurance (Mile High Sleeper) (Diagnosis and Prescription)

Diagnosing Sleep Apnea without Insurance

These suggestions are written for people with a low income who don't have healthcare insurance (or who have extremely high deductibles), and who are not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid.

Only a doctor can make a diagnosis. First, do your homework about sleep apnea. Second, find a doctor who is informed about sleep disorders.

1.Realize that if you do have sleep apnea, your judgment may be somewhat impaired due to the toll that oxygen deprivation takes on your brain, energy levels, life perspective, and initiative. Consider enlisting a family member or friend to help you take the steps below, especially if you are fatigued, confused, or depressed.

2.Become informed about sleep apnea. (If you don't have a computer, use a friend's computer or library computer.) Read about the consequences of untreated sleep apnea in the article Are You Sleeping with the Enemy? at http://www.cpaptalk.com/cpaptalk-articles/sleep-apnea-prevalence-sleeping-enemy.html Read Evaluating Your Sleep at http://www.cpaptalk.com/cpaptalk-articles/evaluating-sleep-apnea.html

3.Take three online quizzes and print the quizzes and results for your doctor. The Berlin Questionnaire and Epworth Sleepiness Scale have the most credibility with doctors. Find the Berlin Questionnaire at Do You Have Sleep Apnea? The Best Place to Start at http://www.cpaptalk.com/cpaptalk-articles/prevalance-sleep-apnea.html Find the Epworth Scale in Evaluating Your Sleep at http://www.cpaptalk.com/cpaptalk-articles/evaluating-sleep-apnea.html An excellent quiz from the book Sleep Apnea - The Phantom of the Night lists symptoms at http://www.healthyresources.com/sleep/apnea/phantom/orders/quiz.html Do not rely on these quizzes for a diagnosis. They are designed to raise awareness (yours and your doctor's), not to diagnose.

4.If your energy levels, behaviors, symptoms, and quiz results raise a concern that you may have sleep apnea, realize that you need diagnosis. It may seem difficult or impossible to pay for a sleep study test and subsequent treatment. However, if you have untreated sleep apnea and it leads to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or some other serious condition affecting your work, it will be far more difficult to pay for treatment of that resulting condition. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." An upfront investment in a sleep study could save you untold costs of a more serious disease. An overnight sleep study in a hospital can cost $1500 and up. If diagnosed, a low-end CPAP machine for treatment costs around $300 bought new online.

5.Become informed about sleep tests by reading http://smart-sleep-apnea.blogspot.com/2006/09/sleep-study-tests.html See the sections about these important options: a split-night study, an at-home test, and a presentation for doctors, Not Every Patient Needs to Go to the Sleep Lab.

6.Find a doctor. If you have a regular doctor or clinic, are they actively aware of sleep disorders and their consequences? An option may be a sleep doctor, a doctor who specializes in sleep disorders. Here are three ways to find one. Phone a local hospital sleep lab, and ask if they can suggest a sleep doctor. Or find a local doctor at https://www.cpap.com/locator.php Or find a sleep doctor through the American Board of Sleep Medicine, go to http://www.absm.org/diplomates/listing.htm

7.Show the doctor your quiz results and discuss your symptoms. Explain your lack of insurance and financial circumstances and discuss options. Be aware that private healthcare insurance and Medicare require a sleep study before paying for CPAP equipment. If an overnight sleep study seems unaffordable, does the doctor ever use at-home screening? A Respironics brand auto PAP machine with a smart card and software can be used for a split night study and titration (finding your CPAP pressure setting.) Does the doctor ever use an auto PAP for these purposes? Read these articles below and ask your doctor's opinion:

A. Dr. Barbara Phillips, American Lung Association of the Central Coast, November 2004, on the board of directors of the National Sleep Foundation. Not Every Patient Needs to Go to the Sleep Lab at http://www.alaccoast.org/pdf/Phillips_0830.pdf

B. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Can Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Titrate Their Own Continuous Positive Airway Pressure? http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/full/167/5/716 Quote: Home self-titration of CPAP is as effective as in-laboratory manual titration in the management of patients with OSA.

C. Nonattended home automated continuous positive airway pressure titration: Comparison with polysomnography http://www.sleepsolutions.com/clinical_library/Unattended_auto-CPAP.pdf Quote: Nasal APAP titration in this study correctly identified residual apnea equivalent to the use of PSG. This correct identification allows the physician to accurately access the efficacy of treatment.

8.If you and your doctor decide on a sleep study or CPAP machine, get costs upfront. A doctor's prescription is necessary for purchase of a CPAP machine. Internet CPAP sellers such as https://www.cpap.com are usually able to sell new machines at a much lower price than local Durable Medical Equipment suppliers, and provide advice as well. For information on CPAP machines, see http://www.cpaptalk.com/cpaptalk-articles/CPAP-machine-choices.html

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