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WatchPAT™ Spearheads Breakthrough of At-Home Testing For Sufferers Of Sleep Apnea
• In October 2010, the American Medical Association to announce a new CPT
(Current Procedural Terminology) code for at-home testing of obstructive sleep
apnea (OSA), which will go into effect January 1, 2011.
• Home testing and diagnosing of OSA will now become uniformly reimbursable for all physicians.
• Home testing with the WatchPAT (wrist-worn device and finger-mounted probe) delivers diagnostic accuracy at a fraction of the cost of sleep lab
testing, significantly lowering the cost of health care.
• Outpatient testing for sleep-related breathing disorders using a wrist-worn device and finger-mounted probe was selected as one of the Top 10 Medical
Innovations for 2010 by a panel of experts at the world-renowned Cleveland
Clinic.
“With the new CPT code going into effect, millions of Americans suffering from sleep apnea can now benefit from easy, low cost access to in-home sleep testing ...."
Full article: http://www.newswise.com/articles/watchpat-spearheads-breakthrough-o...
Home testing will accelerate rapidly in 2011.
(Current Procedural Terminology) code for at-home testing of obstructive sleep
apnea (OSA), which will go into effect January 1, 2011.
• Home testing and diagnosing of OSA will now become uniformly reimbursable for all physicians.
• Home testing with the WatchPAT (wrist-worn device and finger-mounted probe) delivers diagnostic accuracy at a fraction of the cost of sleep lab
testing, significantly lowering the cost of health care.
• Outpatient testing for sleep-related breathing disorders using a wrist-worn device and finger-mounted probe was selected as one of the Top 10 Medical
Innovations for 2010 by a panel of experts at the world-renowned Cleveland
Clinic.
“With the new CPT code going into effect, millions of Americans suffering from sleep apnea can now benefit from easy, low cost access to in-home sleep testing ...."
Full article: http://www.newswise.com/articles/watchpat-spearheads-breakthrough-o...
Home testing will accelerate rapidly in 2011.
Views: 283
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Banyon on
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Banyon said:
Rock Hinkle said:Anywhere from 25-50% of the population has more than one sleep disorder.
Did you just make that up? Tell us about the additional sleep disorders that 25-50% of the population have that are only going to be discovered in an in-lab PSG. (Or maybe won't be discovered because people won't go to the lab or can't afford the lab.)
What are the most prevalent additional sleep disorders? Tell us the top five and their prevalency rates.
I agree with the others that devices like the WatchPat are going to play a bigger role and that is a very good thing. This is going to be driven by patients and doctors who are "catching on", not by .... (I'll hold that for another day).
So you are not going to answer that post? We are not going to find out what the additional sleep disorders are that affect 25-50% of the population?
The absence of an answer makes me think it was a falsehood designed to scare people reading this forum away from home testing into your sleep labs.
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Permalink Reply by mollete on
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j n k said:I resist the home-testing movement on principle. What about you, Mollete?
I really try not to worry about things over which I have no control. Creates too much angst and wastes energy.
For instance, I don't bother to counsel people on quitting smoking. Cigarettes are the only commodity where they tell you on the package "Use our product and you're going to die." If people want to smoke, let 'em.
In re: HST, the failures will eventually arrive at the higher caliber sleep centers. I already have the buttons that say "I Told You So".
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j n k said:Insomnia alone is enough to support Rock's statement, in my opinion, Rooster/Banyon
-jeff
So a person needs to go to a sleep lab to discover he has insomnia??? LMAO.
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Banyon said:
Banyon said:The absence of an answer makes me think it was a falsehood designed to scare people reading this forum away from home testing into your sleep labs.
That's great logic there, SFB, so let me answer for Rock.
GFY
oxoxoxoxoxox
mollete
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Permalink Reply by Janknitz on
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Here's an interesting article about Kaiser's early forays into home... Note this article is from 2008. Kaiser has adopted home sleep tests using the Watch Pat as the standard diagnostic procedures. Titrations are also done at home via an auto-titrating machine.
Kaiser certainly wants to save money, but it also has a vested interest in accurate diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea. As the article points out that early diagnosis and treatment "helps mitigate the long-term negative affects" of untreated sleep apnea--in the long run, Kaiser will save money by accurately diagnosing and treating SA.
Home sleep testing captures a wide group of pre-screened individuals who would either wait long periods to get into a sleep lab, who may not do well in a sleep lab setting, or like me would NEVER go to a sleep lab in the first place. Sleep apnea really isn't that hard to diagnose (complex apneas aside), and home testing provides the objective data to satisfy insurers so people can be TREATED.
Personally I think it has potential to be more accurate than an in-lab test, because it captures the data under the individual's normal sleeping conditions instead of the highly artificial conditions in a lab.
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j n k said:...I will try to follow your example in not worrying about things I can't control.
Such as, for example, the ideas and behaviors and posting habits of others in sleep forums/blogs
I hear ya, brother.
Sometimes it's tough, but ya just hafta try to rise above it.
mollete
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Janknitz, Very well said:
Janknitz said:
Home sleep testing captures a wide group of pre-screened individuals who would either wait long periods to get into a sleep lab, who may not do well in a sleep lab setting, or like me would NEVER go to a sleep lab in the first place. Sleep apnea really isn't that hard to diagnose (complex apneas aside), and home testing provides the objective data to satisfy insurers so people can be TREATED.
Personally I think it has potential to be more accurate than an in-lab test, because it captures the data under the individual's normal sleeping conditions instead of the highly artificial conditions in a lab.
On another point, as far as what insurance companies "want" to pay for, just remember in the ideal world of an insurance company, they would pay for everything we want! But our premiums would be so high we could not afford them.
Insurance companies do not print their own money. They only get it from us (in the form of our premium payments).
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