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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Jan
1
2009
This entry was posted by admin on Thursday, January 1, 2009 at 6:45 pm (UTC), and is categorically filed in Insurance, Top News.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revises the reimbursement rates for all services. During the review and revision process for the coming year, there’s often at least one or two areas that bring about heated discussion in the private sector over reimbursement, generally because of a reduction or a less-than-wanted/less-than-desired increase. This year, as over the past few years, home oxygen was a hot topic.
CMS announced late last year it was reviewing issues related to sleep apnea. The reason given was because the number of Medicare claims over the past few years have shot up like rocket. Much of that is attributed to patient education, community awareness, and various outreach efforts, such as those initiated by Awake In America and other organizations.
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Sep
26
2008
This entry was posted by admin on Friday, September 26, 2008 at 8:22 am (UTC), and is categorically filed in Sleep Studies, Top News.
A small, portable device used for the home diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea has been deemed very reliable, according to research findings presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO, in Chicago, IL.
According to the study, Reliability of Holter Oximetry for Home Sleep Apnea Testing, authored by researchers with the New York Otolaryngology group, 120 patients over a four-month period used Holter oximeters for home sleep testing, registering a 97 percent data recovery rate during that period. Furthermore, patients reported an average comfort score of 2 (on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is the most comfortable).
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Interesting Apnea Statistics
~~ Apnea in United States ~~
As of May 2, 2009 at 9:47 p.m. (-0500) (ET), the U.S. population
was 306,340,710. Sleep researchers estimate approximately seven percent
of the population suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. Using that
estimate, there are potentially 21,443,850 apneics in the U.S.
~~ Apnea around the world ~~
As of May 2, 2009 at 9:47 p.m. (-0500) (ET), the world population
was 6,777,286,604. Sleep researchers estimate approximately seven percent
of the population suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. Using that
estimate, there are potentially 474,410,062 apneics in the world.
