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Somnus Sleep Center is joining Privia Medical Group

By 02 Aug, 2017 Press Releases ,
Somnus Sleep Center is joining Privia Medical Group

We are pleased to announce, as of 15 August 2017, Somnus Sleep Center has joined Privia Medical Group, a multi-specialty group of top physicians in our area.

What does this mean for patients?

  • Same excellent service, same providers and staff
  • Access to a new and improved Patient Portal
  • Streamlined communication between your PCP and specialists for existing Privia medical group patients.
  • Improved EMR system so our staff can serve you better

What will existing Somnus patients need to do?

  1. Sign new forms at your first appointment on or after 8/15
  2. Please be sure to bring in your driver’s license and insurance card at your next appointment so we can re-scan these documents into our new system
  3. Sign up for the new Patient Portal

We are still Somnus Sleep Center
It’s important to know that Somnus Sleep Center continues to manage and run our own practice under the umbrella of Privia Medical Group. Our practice location, contact information, and staff will remain the same.

As part of this transition, we will be offering access to a new state-of-the-art patient portal.

New portal invitations will be sent to all of our patients for whom we have an email address on file. When you receive this invitation, please take a few minutes to register your new portal account to take advantage of some great new features.

Lastly, our practice will continue to accept a wide variety of insurance plans.

Our goal is to make the transition as smooth as possible for you. While we transition to a new system our staff will be doing their utmost to limit any interruption to the high-quality service you are accustomed to and deserve.

We ask for your understanding during our first few months as we learn a new system.
Jay Gonchigar, M.D.
Founder & Medical Director
Somnus Sleep Center

Debra Turner
Chief Operating Officer
Somnus Sleep Center

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Home Sleep Testing vs In-Lab Sleep Testing

By 14 Dec, 2016 Sleep Medicine , , , , ,
Home Sleep Testing vs In-Lab Sleep Testing

Home sleep studies or Home Sleep Testing (HST) gives a physician an indication of the presence of a sleep disorder in a patient.

Home sleep studies are a suitable to aide in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea, however, they are not fullproof in ensuring an accurate diagnosis and therefore not a necessarily a suitable replacement for an in-lad sleep test.

In many cases a patient may still need an in-lab / overnight sleep test, this may be the case when;

  1. the results of the HST are not conclusive or data quality may not be sufficient or the sleep physician believes the data is showing a false negative. Since the HST is done at home there may be issues with the equipment or user error issues resulting in a lack of substantial data.
  2. the HST is only capable of detecting Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) therefore if a patient has another sleep disorder or a concurrent disorder, such as narcolepsy or restless leg syndrome, the in-lab test is the only way to accurately detect and diagnose this.

In addition, not all patients are candidates for an at home sleep study test, for example patients who suffer from the following conditions are considered high-risk and generally require in-lab sleep testing to ensure appropriate monitoring throughout the evening.

  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
  • Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) or other significant cardiac disease
  • Neuromuscular or neurodegenerative diseases

Despite the limitations of an HST many insurances insist on an at home sleep test prior to approval of an in-lab test.

An in-lab test is also called a polysomnography or noctural polysomnogram.

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