Diagnosis & Treatment
Our sleep experts diagnose sleep disorders and help you find innovative therapies and treatment solutions.
The first step toward enjoying a good night’s sleep is getting properly diagnosed. At Sleep Wellness Center, all of our sleep specialists are registered or certified in sleep technologies. We offer a comfortable, home-like atmosphere where you can relax and trust that our sleep experts will help you find answers to your sleep issues and relief from whatever is preventing you from getting the restful sleep you need.
Get Started with a Referral from your Primary Care Physician
Insurance requires you to have a physician’s referral to receive sleep diagnostic care and equipment just like you would for any other type of testing. The majority of patients do not need to see a special sleep doctor; all you need to do is ask your primary care physician to complete a referral form for you to see one of our sleep specialists. It will not require you to add another doctor to your healthcare team or initiate a string of additional appointments. We’ll simply complete the diagnosis process and coordinate a treatment plan with your primary care physician. We accept all insurances, including Medicare, and when you’re referred to Sleep Wellness Center, we’ll do all the insurance paperwork for you.
Here’s how the referral process works:
- Referral paperwork is received from your primary care physician.
- Insurance is verified.
- You are scheduled for a sleep study.
- Our board-certified sleep physician reviews your medical records.
- Sleep study is conducted.
- Study results are hand scored by registered polysomnography technologists.
- Final report is reviewed by Sleep Wellness Center team and treatment plan is prepared.
What Happens at a Sleep Study
When you arrive for your sleep study, your sleep technician will meet you and show you to your bedroom. You’ll have time to change and get ready for bed as you normally would. There may be some waiting periods while we prepare the monitors and sleep conditions during which you’ll be welcome to read or watch TV. When everything is ready, your technician will attach monitoring equipment which will take about 20 minutes. There will then be a 10–15 minute waiting period in which we allow the adhesives to dry. Then it’s lights out and you’ll be free to sleep.
While you’re sleeping, your sleep technician will monitor your brain waves, blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and breathing, as well as muscle, eye, and leg movements. If enough breathing disturbances are recorded, the sleep study technician will awaken you to try using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to see if this improves your sleep. Some patients may be asked to return for a second sleep study to try the CPAP therapy.
The sleep technicians will not be able to give you any results the night of your sleep study. At the completion of your sleep study, our team of sleep experts will take time to analyze all the data collected from the sleep study monitors and prepare a comprehensive summary along with therapy recommendations, if applicable. This process may take up to two weeks.
A complete sleep study report including recommendations for follow-up care will be sent to your primary care physician. If you tried the CPAP therapy during your sleep study, your physician may want you to try CPAP at home for a period of time before your follow-up visit. If this is the case, they will inform our office and we will contact you to help set up an appointment to get your equipment.
Items to bring with you to your sleep study:
- A list of your current medications.
- Comfortable sleep clothes such as pajamas, shorts, or sweatpants.
- Toothbrush, toothpaste, and any other toiletries you need to get ready for bed.
- Linens and bedding are provided, however if you prefer to sleep with your own pillow, please feel free to bring it with you.
Instructions for the day of your sleep study:
- Avoid caffeine after 12 noon.
- Do not take a nap the day of your study.
- You may take a shower or bath before arriving, but do not apply body/face lotion, hair gel, or hair spray as clean, dry skin is necessary for our monitors to work.
- If you haven’t already, please be sure to visit with your sleep study technician prior to your study to discuss any prescription and over-the-counter medications you are taking. You are welcome to either take preapproved medications before you come or bring them with you.
You’ll Appreciate Our Follow-up Care
One of the key advantages to choosing Sleep Wellness Center is our follow-up care program. We’ll keep in touch with you to make sure your personal sleep therapy continues to work for you, and you’ll be happy to know there are no charges for follow-up office visits or equipment checks at Sleep Wellness Center. We just want to make sure you’re doing well.