opening sleep clinic

[hogdaddy]

I have now been on CPAP for about 20 days with varying degrees of success. when I had my sleep studies, I was not very impressed with the facilities, technicians or amount of time it took to get results. My question, to some of the professionals out there is, what kind of equipment do I need to have to open a sleep lab and what do sleep technicians make in the way of yearly salary. Where would I go to hire sleep technicians? Where do I buy the computers that do the study? Does anyone know what would possibly take so long in getting results back. When I had mine done it was almost three weeks I am not a doctor, just a business man who has become fascinated with sleep and the market potential that it offers. I think there is a lot of room for improvement in the sleep study industry.


I also just received my Encore software and I will soon have some questions about that. Still trying to figure it out.
Thanks, Bobby G

[leaveye]

I would imagine that you'd need to hire a doctor who can interpret the results and make a diagnosis.

[hogdaddy]

I don't think you need a doctor based on my experience. It appears that the labs get the referral from the docors office and then forward the results to the doctor for them to interpret. The lab only has the facilities to conduct a sleep study.

[Snoredog]

Some first things you gotta do:

1. Lease a Mercedes, get the most expensive one, that way you can justify the ripoff prices for staying a night at the sleep lab. What does it cost to stay at the Taj Majhal anyway.

2. Lease a big office, have a ugly waiting room with multiple exam rooms, then schedule your patients all for 1PM appointments then make them sit in the ugly waiting room until 3PM even though there are no other patients.

3. Hire a doctor (any doctor) but especially one that doesn't know squat about cpap machine therapy, masks or other aspects of OSA therapy. He/She has to be very stubborn and not cave into educated patient wants.

4. Lease a warehouse or a run down Motel6 decorated in early poverty, equip it with cameras a Respironics Syncrony, some flat panel displays in the control center.

5. Get a Comfort laundry basket, fill it full of the cheapest most crappy masks you can find.

The patients will come to you in droves

[Swordz]

I remember watching a report on some night-time news show like Dateline that talked about the turn-around time of getting sleep study results back. It can be weeks before a patient gets thier numbers back after having thier sleep study. My hospital was no different, as it took almost two weeks. Of course this is not a long time, but to someone diagnosed with a new disorder it seems like eternity.

Back to the news story... It reported that several hospitals are now outsourcing the sleep data to data-scoring centers that can send the data back in days. I believe the one they mentioned was in Canada, but don't quote me. It brought up alot of privacy issues and how exactly the staff were hired, but it seemed like a more efficient system than in-house staff doing the scoring and taking weeks.

[Jim Eads]

[quote="Snoredog"]Some first things you gotta do:

What does it cost to stay at the Taj Majhal anyway.

quote]

Snoredog, the Taj Mahal is a tomb. So, you probably don't want to stay there any any price....

[SLEEPYCD]

Snoredog,
That is too funny, when are you opening your Sleep Lab???? I'll be more than happy to fill one of your RT positions!!!!!
Carolyn

[danmarco]

I agree with hogdaddy. My sleep study cost is excess of four thousand dollars for about 9 hrs time and of course they weren't able to get all the info on the first visit. Pretty good money maker. I also had to prod the sleep lab for the results in a timely manner. Then the DME charged way more for the equipment and charged for each piece separately and picked it out for me in advance and we wonder why health care cost are skyrocketing in this country.


Dan

[wading thru the muck!]

I agree with hogdaddy. My sleep study cost is excess of four thousand dollars for about 9 hrs time and of course they weren't able to get all the info on the first visit. Pretty good money maker. I also had to prod the sleep lab for the results in a timely manner. Then the DME charged way more for the equipment and charged for each piece separately and picked it out for me in advance and we wonder why health care cost are skyrocketing in this country.

Dan... AMEN!

[Moogy]

My sleep study cost is excess of four thousand dollars for about 9 hrs time and of course they weren't able to get all the info on the first visit. Pretty good money maker. I also had to prod the sleep lab for the results in a timely manner.

WOW, my two sleep studies were only $1500 or so each, reduced to $450 each because I have BlueCross. (I hadn't yet met my deductible, so I had to pay that out-of-pocket.) Why would there be such a wide variation in prices?

My sleep lab was slow reporting results after the first study. They used an off-site doc to read the results, then he sent his report to a transcriptionist. In all, it took about 2 weeks. Turnaround probably would be better if the doc who reads the study was on-site.

Scheduling appts was easy, though. Both times, I got in within a day or two of when I called.

Most of us don't know what to ask when we pick a lab. We just pick what the doctor recommends or what is close to our homes. I guess we should be asking about turnaround time....not to mention PRICE!

Moogy

[Brent Hutto]

Prices of most medical services are negociable. My sleep studies was "priced" at about $3,000 (per night) but the BCBS negociated price was actually about $1,100-$1,200 IIRC. So I ended up paying $200-odd for my copay. That $3,000 is sort of a "list price" for those with deep pockets and no insurance company or health plan haggling on their behalf.

There is no law against telling the lab ahead of time that you can't afford a $3,000 study and that they'll need to sell it to you at the lower rate that Medicare (or private insurers) pay.

[Snoredog]

I remember when I contacted my sleep doc. My primary care doctor's nurse called to set up the appointment. She called around Thanksgiving timeframe. I got an appointment December 27. I had 2 PSG's, one for diagnosis and the 2nd for titration.

I got my cpap machine June 1, and I only got it then because I ordered it from cpap.com and told Apria to jump in the lake when they called in July. I'm told that was pretty much average at the time.

[wading thru the muck!]

I remember when I contacted my sleep doc. My primary care doctor's nurse called to set up the appointment. She called around Thanksgiving timeframe. I got an appointment December 27. I had 2 PSG's, one for diagnosis and the 2nd for titration.

I got my cpap machine June 1, and I only got it then because I ordered it from cpap.com and told Apria to jump in the lake when they called in July. I'm told that was pretty much average at the time.

Snoredog,

That sounds very close to my timeframe. Sleep studies in April and June and then after a couple of disappointing encounter with DMEs finally ordered from cpap.com in Oct... got my stuff the next day

[mousetater]

Sounds like my situation as well. Sleep study in February, and thanks to this board I realized I didn't have to wait on my DME, and ordered my equipment from cpap.com. I am just now completing one week of use.