Has OSA become a cash cow.

Montana-user

I think many of us appreciate your commitment and your posting here. It really does help to have someone from your branch of the profession show a 'human face' here (so to speak).

When I see you have posted something I will usually read it because of the point made above & the value your answers bring here.

Thanks

DSM

BlackSpinner wrote:There is no reason for the excess of over priced sleep labs. Preliminary test for OSA can be done with a home sleep test and so can titration, as they do here in Quebec where it is an expense not an income for the medical system. Fancy expensive sleep labs should be reserved for those that "fail" the home tests, who need more testing for other sleep abnormalities.

It does not cost $2000-$5000 to send a patient home with some simple diagnostic equipment like an O2 meter, heart monitor and breathing monitor and to read the smart card and print the output.

Which is why US labs don't do home sleep tests.

Actually- I had the home tests. My O2 sats dropped to 75% and showed apneas of up to 1 minute. Sleep study was ordered to confirm. At least some USA docs are doing it right!

Thankns jnk!!!

When I first started I made the statment that we as techs have to be mini doctors! Trying to figure out what the doctor wants to see. Raise the pressure a few higher than they need, try to split the patient, add oxygen when O2 sats get too low or wait one more hour to make sure we have enough data...It can be very stressful at times. If we mess up ANY of the data, then the patient has to come back for free. So I laugh when my friends say " oh must be boring just watching people sleep" Oh there are nights that it can be boring, but trying to watch everything that person is doing (leg movements, EKG, sleep stages, respiratory issues, etc) it can keep you busy.

Well Im hoping to see my patient that I just had on Friday on here soon. She was very excited when I showed her this website!!! My mom is also scouting this website as she has been on CPAP for 9 years now and loves it!!

Thanks everyone for your questions and your 2 cents!! Every bit helps me and I'm sure other people as well!!

I can no longer wear the turtle neck (loose) shirts I've worn most of my life due to discomfort in my throat. CT scan and US indicated nodules on the thyroid. They are not supposed to be large enough to cause the discomfort in my throat. An FNA of the two largest nodules indicated they are benign so the recommendation is to wait and watch. The consensus is that the nodules are not causing the throat discomfort. US also indicate some hardening of the carotids but not enough to interfere w/normal flow.

Slinky wrote:...CT scan and US indicated nodules on the thyroid...

Might get your iodine levels checked; low iodine is a common cause of nodules which caused our salt to be iodized in the first place. Few suspect an iodine deficiency because our salt is iodized, but the truth is, many of us for one reason or another, avoid salt and don't eat a lot of fish thus we become iodine deficient. Worth investigating. I'm taking half of the low dose Iodoral. Wish I had an avenue of investigation for the COPD, EPO might help. Good luck Slinky, keep us posted!

What's EPO?

Eponectin (sp?), it's often given to those undergoing cancer treatment to boost red blood cells and their ability to carry and transport oxygen. It's one of the drugs banned in sports for performance enhancement.