Question 1

What is PAP therapy and equipment?

Accepted Answer

PAP stands for Positive Airway Pressure.   PAP machines are used to treat Sleep Disordered Breathing, such as OSA, or Obstructive Sleep Apnea.  OSA is when your airway partially or fully closes due to being relaxed or due to fatty tissue in the neck, and your airflow is restricted or stops.     CPAP is used to treat OSA.  It provides Continues Positive Airway Pressure, meaning that it blows air into your nose via a mask (or in your nose and mouth if using a full face mask), and this pressure keeps your airway open while you sleep, and prevents sleep apnea.    There are a few machines that provide positive airway pressure such as BiPAP (BiLevel PAP) and ASV (Auto Servo Ventillation) that treat other problems like sleep hypoventillation and CSA, central sleep apnea.  Your sleep specialist would order the one approprate for your sleep disorder.

Question 2

Can I get PAP equipment from OmniSleep?

Accepted Answer

It depends on your insurance.  Currently, we can provide clinical and sleep testing services for nearly all insurance.  We can provide PAP equipment for most insurance, but some patients are required to use a third party medical equipment suppplier.  During your new patient evaluation, you can ask to talk to one of our benefits staff or our DME care coordinator who can answer your questions.

Question 3

How is OmniSleep's Coordinated Apnea Care program different?

Accepted Answer

Our Coordinated Apnea Care program provides better outcomes, not just PAP equipment.  25% more of our sleep apnea patients are successful with therapy than those getting their equipment from outside DME suppliers.  The goal of clinic evaluations and testing are successful CPAP therapy.  When we supply patients with CPAP equipment, our dedicated therapy coordinators provide phone and face to face support and they coordinate with our sleep specialists to quickly make mask or therapy setting changes.  In contrast, using a third party DME company can result in fragmented care, inconvenience, and poor communication between parties.

Question 4

What is the process for getting CPAP from OmniSleep?

Accepted Answer

First, patients must be diagnosed with sleep apnea or another sleep-related breathing disorder.  This involves a clinical evaluation with one of our sleep specialists and a sleep study to diagnose the disorder and to determine the severity.    Diagnostic sleep studies are followed by a treatment sleep study to determine the correct PAP therapy setting, though sometimes diagnosis and treatment studies are combined into one.    After assessing the treatment study results, the sleep specialist orders PAP equipment for ongoing treatment at home.   Our DME department confirms insurance benefits and communicates with patients if there is a problem.  Then we schedule patients for a CPAP setup appointment with one of our respiratory therapists in which the PAP mask is fitted and patients are instructed how to use and care for the PAP machine.

Question 5

What happens after I get PAP equipment?

Accepted Answer

If you elect for OmniSleep to provide your PAP equipment, you enter our Coordinated Apnea Care program.  In the first 90 days, our apnea care therapists provide plenty of support, education, and they deal with mask fit and equipment issues.  Some insurers require us to report the amount of time that you use PAP per night to justify continued payment for the equipment.  Usually, patients adjust to therapy within that period of time.     If your insurer requires you to get equipment from an outside DME company, OmniSleep sends it your sleep specialist order for PAP equipment.  The DME company would then contact you to arrange setting you up with PAP equipment.   Because this apprach is more fragmented we don't have control over the performance or communication of the DME company, we have found that it typically takes longer for patients to get their equipment or to get responses from these suppliers than it would take if they got equipment from OmniSleep.  If this happens, you should call us and we'll do our best to help.

Question 6

What happens if I don't adjust to or tolerate CPAP?

Accepted Answer

Most patients adjust well to PAP therapy.  Our therapists work very hard to make ongoing treatment as comfortable as possible.  We can usually assess if a patient is a good candidate for PAP therapy in the first month of use.     However, some patients opt to discontinue therapy becuase they experience mask discomfort or difficulty with the volume of airflow in the mask.  Some patients feel claustrophobic and have difficulty wearing a mask.      If you can't tolerate PAP, we would collect the machine from you and notify your referring provider and the insurer (to avoid additional billing and expense).  Then we'd schedule an appointment with your sleep specialist to discuss other treatment options.  Such options include surgery, oral appliances, and weight loss.

Apnea Care Program - Integrated CPAP Supply

Highly Coordinated Care Program for Sleep Disordered Breathing

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