Before your sleep study, there are many authorizations and individuals involved in ensuring your sleep study will provide the best results.
Before your sleep study
- Your order is received from the referring physician, reviewed and notes are obtained
- Your sleep study is scheduled
- Insurance approval process begins
Day of your sleep study
When you arrive at the sleep center, the technician will show you to your room. As the technician gets the equipment ready, you can change into your sleepwear and get ready for bed as you would at home. During this downtime, you can use our Wi-Fi or watch our TV. There may also be some paperwork to fill out during this time.
Next, our technicians will show you the equipment that will be used, explain the sleep study in detail and answer any questions you may have. The equipment includes:
- approximately two dozen sensors that are applied to your skin using conductive paste and adhesive.
- elastic belts are placed around your chest and abdomen
- a probe will also be placed on your finger
What do the sensors do?
These sensors allow us to monitor the activities that go on in your body during sleep like, brain waves, muscle and eye movements, snoring etc. The elastic belts are used to measure your effort of breathing and the finger probe monitors the level of oxygen in your blood and your heart rate.
These devices are typically not a barrier to falling asleep and are designed to be as comfortable as possible. We do understand that your sleep at the center may not be exactly like your sleep at home. This usually doesn't interfere with obtaining the necessary information to make an accurate diagnosis.
During the night
Lights out is at 11pm. During the night, you will be able to roll over and change positions almost as easily as you would at home. The technician (who is in a separate room) will be available if your senors should need re-adjusting or you need to go to the bathroom. Most patients have to get up at least once during the night. You will be awakened by 6:30am.
After sleep study
After your sleep study, a sleep technologist will process the data that was recorded and work with a physician who specializes in sleep medicine to interpret the data. Because the study provides extensive amounts of information, the technologist will review the study twice to ensure accuracy. The study provides over 1,000 pages of data so the interpretation process can take up to 3 weeks.
If you had a diagnostic sleep study, the physician will review your study and send you a basic letter of results, which will tell you if you tested "positive" or "negative" for sleep apnea. During your next appointment with your physician, they will discuss with you further.
If you had a titration sleep study, the physician will review your study and a prescription for a pap machine will be sent to a Durable Medical Equipment company. The company will contact you directly to coordinate the set up of your machine. The Center for Sleep Medicine will then be contacting you to schedule a follow up clinic appointment.
