We use cookies and other tools to enhance your experience on our
website and to analyze our web traffic.
For more information about these cookies and the data collected,
please refer to our
Privacy Policy.
Sportsched
+0 points
·
almost 6 years
ago
Original Poster
Hi. My family doctor thinks I have the symptoms associated with sleep apnea.
He has recommended a sleep study at a clinic near my home town.
The problem is that I am terrible at falling asleep in strange places. Add the equipment required for the measurements and I am 99% sure I wont sleep for 1 minute in a clinic.
I have searched the internet for a home study? I am in Ontario Canada. I don't mind paying for it. My chances are 100% better I would sleep at home even with equipment on.
Biguglygremlin
+0 points
·
almost 6 years
ago
Sleep
Enthusiast
In Australia it is possible to hire the equipment overnight from a local chemist (pharmacy) and they send the data to a specialist who produces a report.
Not sure if I am allowed to past stuff here but this might help
Coverage
A survey was conducted to assess which Canadian jurisdictions provide coverage for devices that are used in the diagnosis and treatment of OSA at home. Responses were received from all jurisdictions except Quebec, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Public funding of CPAP equipment is available in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, and the Yukon. The only jurisdiction that funds private testing at home using a portable monitoring device for oximetry is the Yukon. British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia do not provide coverage for devices that are used at home for the diagnosis or treatment of OSA. Several private medical insurance policies cover CPAP equipment, but the amount of aid varies between insurers, and there may be variations in benefits between individual and group policies at the same firm.
Sierra
+0 points
·
almost 6 years
ago
Sleep
Patron
I had a home study done in Alberta by Sleep Therapeutics. They advertise free sleep studies and I see they do have an office in Toronto. See link below. I can't say they were great, but the job got done. I was referred to them by my GP. If Toronto does not work for you I would suggest doing a Google search for Sleep Clinics in Ontario. It seems somewhat surprising that this particular company does not have more offices in Ontario. Perhaps with our provincial health care systems not being consistent, that Ontario may have decided not to approve the home study method? Don't know. But if you phone that Toronto office they should let you know the situation, and perhaps recommend a clinic near to you.
I think Ontario regulates the CPAP business more than Alberta does because OHIP covers some of the cost, and they may not allow the huge profits that some of these clinics in Alberta charge on their machines. In Alberta they charge something like $2400 for the initial machine and mask setup. If you have no private insurance, Alberta Health Care pays nothing. While I did my study with this company and took advantage of their free trial of a machine, I ended up buying it from a Company in Toronto on the internet for about $800, because I have no insurance that covers CPAP. So perhaps if that big markup is not in the cards for a clinic they may not be as anxious to do sleep studies as they are in Alberta...
Sportsched
+0 points
·
almost 6 years
ago
Original Poster
Thanks. After more research looks like a clinic based sleep study is my only real option in Ontario. I have one booked for early February. I will keep a postive attitude. Maybe it will go better then I think!
Sierra
+0 points
·
almost 6 years
ago
Sleep
Patron
I also did a bit of quick internet research on the availability of the service in Ontario. For whatever reason Ontario seems to be behind in the home diagnosis of sleep apnea. Two very credible companies, ResMed, and Phillips both make home sleep study equipment, but from what I can see, you may be able to get a lab to do the test, but OHIP will not accept it as a diagnosis for sleep apnea and you still have to go through the in clinic sleep over test.
Starting in 2017 it appears Ontario has decided to conduct a trial of a new home diagnosis technology called BresoDX which is some kind of collaboration between an Ontario company and a university. They claim to be doing 3000 trials of the equipment in the 2017-2019 period of time. If you were to contact the BresoDX company which is in Toronto, they may be able to direct you to a clinic that is using the equipment and would include you in the trial. The problem however is that since it is a trial, they may want you to do both the at home test and in clinic test so they can compare the results -- double bad! Here is a link:
It seems strange that Ontario has decided to ignore proven technology and essentially not offer it. Perhaps your new government will change things and bring Ontario back into the mainstream. The one good thing is that Ontario is one of the few provinces that provide coverage for the CPAP equipment. I believe they pay 75% of the cost providing you buy it at one of their approved outlets.
Please be advised that these posts may contain sensitive material or
unsolicited medical advice. MyApnea does not endorse the content of these
posts. The information provided on this site is not intended nor recommended
as a substitute for advice from a health care professional who has evaluated
you.
