|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
Posted by Carrie on June 23, 2001 at 07:45:30:In Reply to: Practicing medicine without a license? posted by Michael RPSGT on June 22, 2001 at 04:35:53:
This is a topic I have been concerned about for some time now. I have worked in four labs/centers with two of them being accredited. Three of the labs required physician interpretation before CPAP/BIPAP/O2 orders were called in to the DME. The lab which required techs to call in orders to the DMEs the same day scoring was completed (before physicians ever read the studies) was accredited.
One of the problems I have witnessed is a doctor who is late reading studies and his patients have been on CPAP/BIPAP/O2 for weeks. The DMEs were calling the lab demanding a doctor's certificate of necessity to keep the patients on CPAP and the studies had not ever been read to start with. I worked for several doctors who were too busy to read their studies and let them stack up in the interpretation box for months MONTHS.
Where does this leave the tech who called in the order? Just as bad-what is the patient thinking about the lab?
Some labs call in CPAP orders the morning after the studies are ran, before they are scored. This works to a certain extent but I would rather have MD interpretation first. It makes a tech look foolish to have to call the DME back two weeks later and have them change a CPAP order because the doctor just read the study and disagreed with what was called in.
This issue is something else techs have to worry about as if we did not have enough already.
One last item: Lots of techs tell the patients their diagnosis in the morning as well as the optimal CPAP pressure. This is asking for trouble but some doctors want it this way or do not care what the techs tell patients. I just can't do this and have taken alot of ribbing over this in the past. What is going to happen when the tech tells the patient "you slept best at 12cm" but the doctor disagrees and orders 14cm? Some techs tell the patients what pressure they are on during the titration, for example, asking if 8cm feels better than another pressure. After the study that patient is going to be thinking 8cm but the doctor orders 11cm. Confusing? Unfair to the patient? Does the patient think someone is telling a lie because the tech/doctor cannot agree? You bet. I'm getting off the main topic. (Sorry)
- IMPORTANT : Information not intended as medical advice. If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder you should seek care from a qualified professional. Read Terms of Use.
- The Sleep Forums are not to be used for commercial purposes.
- Commercial products and services are not endorsed by Sleepnet.com.
- Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.
Copyright ©1995-2006 Sleepnet.com., All rights reserved