Home Sleep Testing

Sleep HealthCenters also offers the latest in home recording equipment to diagnose patients in the comfort and privacy of their homes

For a select group of patients, a home sleep study makes more sense.  Patients meeting our clinical protocol listed below who are eligible through their insurance coverage, can now choose between having their test done in the laboratory and having it done at home.

Ideally, patients are referred for an evaluation by a sleep specialist who can decide if a patient is appropriate for HST. If appropriate, the patient is given a device and instructed how to put it on by a sleep technologist. The patient returns or mails the device back to the center the following day. The study is scored and interpreted by a sleep specialist. The patient returns the following week to see the sleep specialist, who reviews the result of the study with the patient and selects appropriate treatment.

If the referring physician thinks the patient is appropriate for HST but wants SHC to manage the patient, they can send the patient for a 24-hour turnaround service (available at our Brighton, Framingham, Medford and Weymouth locations). The patient picks up the device in the afternoon/evening with instruction on its use from the sleep technologist. The patient returns to the clinic with the device the next day and during the same visit the study is scored and interpreted, the sleep specialist reviews the study with the patient, the type of treatment is selected and treatment is initiated, all in the same visit.

If the referring physician thinks the patient is appropriate for HST and wants to manage the patient themselves, they can order the test and receive back a report interpreted by a sleep specialist. SHC will be able to assist with treatment if desired by the referring physician.

HST should be utilized only as part of a comprehensive sleep evaluation. Sleep HealthCenters (SHC) can conduct an evaluation to determine if the patient is appropriate for HST. The referring provider can order the test if they determine the patient meets criteria for HST.

CRITERIA FOR HOME SLEEP STUDIES

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has published suggested guidelines for the use of HST in the diagnosis of OSA.  They recommend that HST be used only in the context of a comprehensive sleep evaluation and for the following patients:

• Patients with a high pre-test probability of moderate to severe OSA.
• Patients with no significant co-morbid medical condition.  Examples of co-morbid conditions include moderate-severe pulmonary diseases (cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, active asthma, COPD), congestive heart failure and neuromuscular diseases (ALS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease).
• Patients suspected of having no co-morbid sleep disorder other than OSA.
• Patients unable to be studied in a sleep laboratory.
• To monitor response to non-CPAP treatments after the diagnosis has already been made.

The AASM recommended that HST is not appropriate for general screening of asymptomatic patients.

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