Sleep study "How often" ? Are you kidding me ?

[mrnetwurm]

I've been on CPAP for a little over a year and my sleep doc is now refusing to renew my script. I can no longer get hoses and masks and nasal pillows. The reason for this . . . my doc says I need a new sleep study every six months to check my pressure needs. I am on a standard cpap with a setting of 12. I have gone back to the doctor several times to have my data analyzed and she says that everyone looks good but it's her policy to check all her patientes every six months with a new sleep study. Her office also happens to be the sleep clinic.

I have mild to moderate apnea that is well-controlled with the current treatment.

I am thinking it's time to find a new doctor.

Any thoughts ? How often are you getting re-checked with a sleep study ?

[Todzo]

I've been on CPAP for a little over a year and my sleep doc is now refusing to renew my script. I can no longer get hoses and masks and nasal pillows. The reason for this . . . my doc says I need a new sleep study every six months to check my pressure needs. I am on a standard cpap with a setting of 12. I have gone back to the doctor several times to have my data analyzed and she says that everyone looks good but it's her policy to check all her patientes every six months with a new sleep study. Her office also happens to be the sleep clinic.

I have mild to moderate apnea that is well-controlled with the current treatment.

I am thinking it's time to find a new doctor.

Any thoughts ? How often are you getting re-checked with a sleep study ?

Last sleep study mid 2003

[LSAT]

Go to your primary care doctor (or your dentist) and have them write a prescription for you.
There is a conflict of interest here.....unless you are having major problems, there is no need for 6month sleep studies. Mine was 5 years ago and I do not plan to have another.

Added later...Do you know for sure that you need a new prescription? Have you checked with your DME?? Some prescriptions are for life...varies by state. (I hope she is not your DME also)

[Pugsy]

I am thinking it's time to find a new doctor.

I am thinking it is past time to find a new doctor.
Do you have a regular primary care family type doctor? He can write the RX with no limitations to it and it works just as good.

How often are you getting re-checked with a sleep study ?

4 years and counting and no rechecks past the 90 day follow up after first starting cpap therapy..."call us if you need us" thing was what I was told.
I still get any masks I want from my DME...no questions asked.

[caffeinatedcfo]

it's her policy to check all her patients every six months with a new sleep study. Her office also happens to be the sleep clinic.

Yep - time to switch doc. She is abusing the system and is contributing to the over-inflated cost of medical insurance! I wonder what your insurance carrier would say if you advised.

[nanwilson]

Down time and aggravation for you... more money in her pocket

[msla]

One sleep study 10 years ago last January. It was a split night study. Something is rotten in Denemark or whereever.

[poorflick]

Sleep study two years ago. No problem getting masks. Doc even wrote a new prescription for a machine and didn't blink an eye. Your doc just wants more money from you.

[Ticman]

My PCP writes my RX's. Since my sleep Doc moved 2000 miles away he can't. I have no problem with my PCP. I even bring my reports in from the software and she goes over it with me. She told me she wishes everyone with Apnea would take the time to learn about their treatment.

[6PtStar]

My PCP writes mine also. He is very easy to talk to and work with. There is no way I would go through a sleep study that often, not a fun time. I had one almost 7 years ago, no one has suggested it again.

Jerry

[zoocrewphoto]

I would send them a letter informing them of why they have been fired. And I would report them to your insurance company for fraud. The only reason to get a sleep study is if your current therapy is not working, and you don't have enough information to improve that therapy. Once a year is extreme. And once every six months i way beyond extreme.

As mentioned, you can get a prescription from any doctor, so you don't need that bad doctor at all. I would never trust them with anything again as they clearly have money first and don't really care about your treatment.

I'd be tempted to contact the local media as well. That just makes me want to warn all the other patients that are being "treated" by this doctor.

[StuUnderPressure]

How often are you getting re-checked with a sleep study ?

Had my initial & ONLY 2 night Sleep Study over 14 years ago.

My Sleep Doctor continues to write prescriptions for subsequent machines & of course all of the masks & other supplies.

[zoocrewphoto]

Last year, after getting my new machine, and getting past my first followup appointment, I let my mom do two partial nights on my machine. She has an older brick, and she didn't feel like it ever helped her much, so we were testing to see what results she was really getting with that pressure. I did one night set at her prescription of 10 and another night set 10-13. She had a cluster of events with one being over a minute long. We took the printouts to my sleep doctor who had never seen her before. We also took her previous sleep study, a little over 2 years old. He looked at both, prescribed a new machine with full data, and a pressure of 10-15. No need for a new sleep study. The info was already available from the machine he prescribed for me.

[Janknitz]

but it's her policy to check all her patientes every six months with a new sleep study. Her office also happens to be the sleep clinic.

'Nuff said.

GREED, pure GREED.

[Todzo]

I've been on CPAP for a little over a year and my sleep doc is now refusing to renew my script. I can no longer get hoses and masks and nasal pillows. The reason for this . . . my doc says I need a new sleep study every six months to check my pressure needs. I am on a standard cpap with a setting of 12. I have gone back to the doctor several times to have my data analyzed and she says that everyone looks good but it's her policy to check all her patientes every six months with a new sleep study. Her office also happens to be the sleep clinic.

I have mild to moderate apnea that is well-controlled with the current treatment.

I am thinking it's time to find a new doctor.

Any thoughts ? How often are you getting re-checked with a sleep study ?

On the one hand I am happy to see a doctor who understands that our bodies change and we need to track and respond to that change.

On the other hand a sleep study is a lot of money and resources - is not in the home where it belongs - and only looks at a single night. The data is very much modified by the location and circumstances and is a very short "snapshot" instead of the trend of data over many days as it should be.

Work with your doctor if you can to move toward the use of the nightly data to find out what is really going on night to night. It works for me and many of us here.

Have a great week!

Todzo