The
Lancaster Sleep Disorder Project
Sleep Disorder
Associates of Lancaster
Increasing
physician awareness of sleep
disorders in Lancaster County
The
Lancaster Sleep Disorder Project
is a community health outreach
program aimed at improving sleep
health in Lancaster County. The
Lancaster Sleep Disorder Project,
sponsored by Sleep Disorder
Associates of Lancaster, provides
a unique approach to the
diagnosis and treatment of
patients with sleep disorders.
This is a joint collaboration
between primary care physicians,
sleep medicine specialists,
registered sleep technologists
and other healthcare
professionals.
The Problem
In a large
multi-center study, it was
recently demonstrated that the
prevalence of sleep apnea is much
higher than what was previously
suspected. One in 5 adults has
obstructive sleep apnea, with 1
in 20 having symptoms (Young et
al).Unfortunately, most of these
patients are not diagnosed.This
is likely due to a lack of public
awareness of sleep apnea and the
problems associated with it
(hypertension, strokes, heart
attacks, accidents from excessive
daytime sleepiness and death).
The Solution
Sleep
Disorder Associates of Lancaster
has joined forces with local
healthcare professionals to
provide a unique approach to
patient care in Lancaster County.
A
recent trial led by Stanford
investigators found that by
educating primary care physicians
in the field of sleep medicine,
and providing them with
additional skills and resources,
public awareness of sleep
disorders was increased in the
community. There was an
eight-fold increase in the amount
of patients who were identified
as having a possible sleep
disorder after the intervention
(Ball et al).
Sleep
Disorder Associates of Lancaster
aims to increase sleep disorder
public awareness by providing
physicians with educational
resources and training in
sleep medicine.
The
clinicians at Sleep Disorder
Associates of Lancaster provide
intense sleep medicine education
to participating Lancaster Sleep
Disorder Project primary care and
specialist physicians.
Participating physicians receive
didactic training in the
diagnosis and treatments of many
sleep disorders. A multimedia
approach is used to maximize the
educational experience. The
physicians are provided with
audio and video lectures, which
may be used at their convenience,
as well as with slide and text
materials. This is provided at no
cost to the patient or the
physician.
Participating
physicians also have access to
specialists from other fields to
maximize patient care and improve
patient compliance. Additional
referral specialists available to
patients and physicians include
dieticians, neurologists,
pulmonologists, sleep equipment
experts and other health
professionals.
Sleep
studies for patients referred to
Sleep Disorder Associates of
Lancaster are conducted in a
recently constructed facility
with the most modern,
technologically advanced digital
equipment available. Respitech
Medical Inc (RMI) constructed the
facility with the aim of meeting
or exceeding the recommendations
of the American Academy of Sleep
Medicine. Each bedroom in the
laboratory was professionally
designed and decorated to
resemble an upscale hotel room.
Each room has its own bathroom
and climate control to maximize
patient comfort. Nighttime sleep
studies are conducted by RMI
under the direction of a
registered sleep technologist
(RPSGT).
After the
patient undergoes the sleep
study, a trained sleep
technologist will process the
data. A board certified physician
who is sleep medicine fellowship
trained then reviews this scored
data, along with the original raw
data. A sleep study
interpretation is promptly sent
to the referring physician. For
most patients, follow up sleep
medicine care is conveniently
conducted by the primary care
physician.
About Us
The
Lancaster Sleep Disorder Project
is a multidisciplinary
collaboration between Sleep
Disorder Associates of Lancaster,
Respitech Medical Inc. and
participating physicians and
health care experts in Lancaster
County. Sleep Disorder Associates
of Lancaster and the Lancaster
Sleep Disorder Project are
directed by a sleep
fellowship-trained,board
certified internist who has been
in the sleep medicine field for
over 10 years. Sleep studies are
conducted under the direction of
Respitech Medical Inc. at their
facility in the city of
Lancaster.
Sleep
Disorder Associates of Lancaster
is available 24 hours/day to
discuss this unique and exciting
approach to increasing the
awareness, diagnosis and
treatment of sleep disorders in
the community of Lancaster.
THE
LANCASTER SLEEP DISORDER PROJECT
SLEEP
DISORDER ASSOCIATES OF LANCASTER
www.LancasterSleep.com
Phone:
(717) 569-7044
Fax:(309)
410-1205
Email:
director@LancasterSleep.com
References
Ball E,
Simon R, Tall A, Banks M,
Nino-Murcia G, Dement WC. Diagnosis
and Treatment of Sleep Apnea
Within the Community. Archives
of Internal Medicine, 1997;
157:419-424
Kramer et
al. The Role of the
Primary Care Physician in
Recognizing Obstructive Sleep
Apnea, Archives of
Internal Medicine,
1999;159:965-968.
Terry
Young, Paul E. Peppard and Daniel
J. Gottlieb. Epidemiology
of Obstructive Sleep Apnea,A
Population Health Perspective,
American Journal of
Respiratory and Critical Care
Medicine,Vol 165. pp.
1217-1239, (2002).
The staff at the Sleep
Disorder Associates of Lancaster
and the Sleep Disorder Clinic of
Lancaster are dedicated to the
diagnosis and treatment of sleep
disorders in adults and children.
Our experienced medical staff
have been caring for patients
with sleeping disorders for over
10 years.
We specialize in:
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