Sleep Apnea Docs Mint Coin
I have obstructive sleep apnea. (OSA)
I am a hoser.
I was diagnosed at least 20 years ago. And I’ve been hooked to a machine when I sleep since then.
What a racket sleep apnea has become.
Here in Smallburg, one of the sleep apnea docs just built one of the largest medical facilities in the county – just to diagnose sleep apnea! This place is huge – and fairly plush as medical facilities go. Since 80% of Ap-nee-acks are undiagnosed this is a huge growth industry for these specialized docs and medical suppliers.
Apnea typically hits older overweight folks. Folks who are generally either:
1. Insured
2. On welfare
are usually diagnosed with sleep apnea because getting diagnosed means somebody has to cough up a boat-load of money for a sleep study. Sleep studies are done in sleep labs with sleep techs electrifying your noggin and loggin’ the data as you *cough* sleep in a strange bed, in a strange room, with strange wiring on your noodle.
It’s expensive. And that is just the beginning. Sleep apnea is treated by using a small blower to pump air up your snoot so your airways don’t collapse. Not cheap.
However! There is good news looming. The choke hold big medical companies have on diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea may see a dramatic shift and the cost of diagnosis and treatment of OSA could plummet. {pdf}
There’s a reason why Philips paid $5 billion and a premium to buy Respironics. Sleep apnea is an enormous emerging opportunity: in the US, 38 million patients have the disease, and there are compelling clinical reasons to treat them. That’s big business for device companies, if only they can access patients and establish new referral patterns in a highly fragmented market.
Yeah, it’s a big business that needs to be cut down to size. Nothing would please me more than to see the New Giant Sleep Center be renting out space for low-income housing. When one doctor in Smallburg can build a multi-million dollar clinic by treating snoring, something is wrong.
Two things need to change:
First the gummit has to say OK to a new way to test for sleep apnea.
Check. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have approved home testing for OSA. No more staying over night at some expensive “sleep lab.”
Next a smaller, less intrusive, cheaper treatment is needed.
Check. Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, I present to you the Provent Therapy.
Yeppers, that’s it. Two little disposable thingies that stick to my nose to prevent me from exhaling. Well not totally prevent, that would be called suffocation.
The Provent System doesn’t restrict inhaling, but it does restrict exhaling which (they say) keeps a pressure in my airways and keeps my epiglottis and trachea and lungs and rectum from collapsing.
I know a ton of people my age and younger who have sleep apnea – they snore! And I’m here to tell you, if you snore or your bed partner snores (the two-legged one) then they are not getting a restful sleep because of sleep apnea.
Ask your doctor about home testing for sleep apnea. If he doesn’t have a clue… tell him to check out the Provent Therapy home page and get educated.
I’m convinced that smart consumers of medical necessities will force drastic changes in what the big guys can charge and what the insurance companies are willing to pay.
I’m signed up for a ten-day trial. I sure hope these doo-hickies work. No more hoser!
Stay tuned. As soon as I convince my GP doc that he really needs to order these for me, I’ll be giving Provent Therapy a shot.
Tremendously good thank you, I reckon your trusty subscribers may well want more well written articles like this maintain the good work.
Yes, this would keep the cost up for sure. Probably FDA rules: don’t want people using these airway restrictions where there may be other breathing problems. I don’t mind having a doc involved, just as long as it’s a GP and doesn’t involved a sleep lab and all the associated costs.
Why do you need a doctor’s prescription for the Provent System? Is there medication in it? I suspect that the cost can be kept higher if one can only obtain it through doctor’s orders.
My wife, who snores terribly and is definitely an undiagnosed sleep apnea sufferer, finds that those Breathe Right nasal strips also go a long way in easing the problem. But I can see how those doohickies might be even better because they force the airway open further into the throat. Anything has got to be an improvement over wearing a CPAP rig. Good luck.
I have heard that about the strips… but if she would use a CPAP she might find her life changed dramatically for the better.
Thanks for the good wishes. The only drawback would be that pulling the covers over my head to sleep in would be hampered.
I must say, that bandaid DOES look much better than the hose!
Hope it works well and becomes widespread, all the way to Australia, and specifically, my husband…
Yes, it really IS all about the looks after all! 🙂