‘No-Contact’ Home Sleep Testing Privacy
Home sleep testing is performed safely and privately in your own home without cameras or microphones. SleepSomatics is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and licensed with the State of Texas Department of Health and Human Services. We comply with all privacy laws including HIPAA.
What is a home sleep study?
Home sleep testing (or a home sleep study) is a safe, non-invasive, ‘no-contact’ medical test for evaluating sleep apnea, snoring, and sleep-disordered breathing disturbances. Three to five sensors are self-administered in the home setting over multiple consecutive nights of testing.
‘No-Contact’ Home Sleep STUDY Safety
SleepSomatics is committed to providing safe, no-contact home sleep apnea testing without the need to enter a medical sleep clinic. A ‘no-contact,’ at-home sleep study limit unnecessary exposure when testing for suspected sleep apnea. SleepSomatics provides curbside delivery of fully equipped take-home sleep testing kits. SleepSomatics home testing kits contain disposable, single-use supplies and sterilized medical equipment following these CDC protocols:
Disposable, sealed nasal cannula for your single use.
Fabric belt that has been laundered and subjected to 60 minutes of high heat following laundering.
Type III home sleep apnea test device, pulse oximeter, and charging adapter plug. These medical device parts are subjected to 30 minutes of disinfection with Citrus II, a EPA-Registered Bactericide, Virucide, Fungicide, and Mildewstat, formulated to disinfect hard, non-porous surfaces without use of bleach, alcohol, or phenols.
Each medical device part is then finally subjected to ultraviolet (UV) sterilization prior to packaging.
DOES health insurance cover A home sleep study?
Health insurance policies vary. There are thousands of different health coverage conditions, limitations and restrictions. Increasingly, more health insurances (such as United Healthcare, Humana, Aetna, Cigna, and Blue Cross Blue Shield) contain coverage rationale that require a home sleep study for evidence-based testing for suspected sleep apnea.
What is the difference between A SLEEP STUDY AT HOME VS. AT THE SLEEP LAB?
A ‘no-contact,’ at-home sleep study limits unnecessary exposure when testing for sleep apnea. SleepSomatics home sleep study uses only three to five (3 to 5) sensors that you self-administer in the privacy of your own home. These sensors are managed by you throughout testing, and as a result, your movement and sleep position are less restricted than with an in-lab sleep study. No-contact home sleep testing is performed in the privacy of your own home, and there is no video or audio monitoring while you sleep in the comfort of your bedroom.
No-contact home sleep studies are increasingly the standard testing protocol for common disorders like sleep apnea, snoring, and hypoxia (oxygen loss). An in-lab sleep study (or attended polysomnography) is a completely different experience from sleep testing that you do at home. Click here for videos and pictures comparing an in-lab sleep study and at-home sleep study. In-lab sleep studies are increasingly less common and only done in certain pre-qualified cases that involve rarer neurological disorders like epilepsy and narcolepsy.
Health insurance carriers apply coverage conditions and limitations for sleep related diagnostics that result in reduced coverage and benefits. Polysomnography must satisfy the insurance's own medical policy for coverage consideration. Most insurance medical policy's contain coverage rationale that require home sleep testing for evaluating adults with suspected sleep disordered breathing or obstructive sleep apnea. The vast majority of health plans strictly limit coverage for attended polysomnography (sleep studies performed in the sleep lab). Patients seeking an in-lab sleep study should first verify if their health insurance plan limit coverage via it's medical policy rationale, conditions or limitations. Insurance health plans that contain conditions limiting coverage may require or result in your having to pay out of pocket for attended polysomnogram sleep study at the sleep lab. The out-of-pocket expense for full-contact sleep studies performed in the sleep lab is double the cost as compared to the cost of safe no-contact home sleep testing.
Attended polysomnography uses approximately twenty-five (25) sensors taped or attached to your body from the top of your head down to your legs. These sensors are administered by a registered sleep technologist at the sleep lab who must be in close contact with your person throughout study setup and periodically throughout your sleep study in the sleep lab. Your movement and sleep position may be restricted by these twenty-five (25) sensors, and the sleep technologist may need to periodically assist you in getting out of bed throughout the study for reapplication of sensors lost due to excess movement. While you sleep, the sleep technologist will be monitoring your sensors as well as observe your sleep patterns by video and audio monitoring.