As long as we’re beating an undead zombie, I noticed that several times posters mentioned that discussing the OP’s compliance or lack thereof with her husband would be a violation of HIPAA. Not necessarily so. HIPAA specifically allows covered entities to discuss issues with family members.
It is this provision that allows people to pick up prescriptions from pharmacies for family members, among other things. I was working in an optometrist’s office when HIPAA was first passed. This issue was discussed and carefully verified by their lawyers. The recommended privacy notice we used had a spot for the patient to sign if they did NOT want us to talk to the spouse, but it was rarely signed. A lot of providers have a policy of not talking to spouses without explicit permission, but it’s not required by the law.
Don’t feel bad about it. I knew it was a zombie thread and still posted because I hope someone else in the same situation stumbles across it and decides to make the right decision. Sleep apnea can be very serious and it will screw up your quality of life even if it doesn’t kill you directly. The technology to address it very effectively has greatly improved even since this thread was first started.
Picking up prescriptions is directly relevant to the involvement of a spouse in the patient’s care and payment for care. “Is she using her CPAP?” is not. Two entirely different situations.
I have used CPAP for several years and never realized that I had the symptoms. Both sleep tests I have taken were at home where I wore something wrapped around my chest, a oximeter on my finger and something on my nose. Both tests came back positive so I got my CPAP. Both of the masks I have had were the nasal pillow type and both very lightweight. I have always slept on my side or stomach and neither of these prevented that. My current mask weighs much less than 1 pound. Of course, there are the straps around which might be a bit of a problem to get used to.
I would suggest that you check out youtube (search for both CPAP and nasal pillow) and you will find many videos about using these devices. Most people with sleep apnea have a problem staying awake during the day following what they consider a good nights rest. This is what the CPAP and mask are designed to solve.
After using this, I realize that my father probably had sleep apnea and had CPAP been available then, his snoring problem would have been much less.
I will echo the the people above and suggest that you go through with the test.
If the spouse was coming to pick up the CPAP, or paying for the CPAP, sure. But a CPAP is something that most people are independent with in terms of use. Unless the patient needs someone else to help her apply the CPAP, there’s no need for a spouse’s involvement in the use of the CPAP, and unless the patient is incompetent and dependent, there’s no reason for a spouse to be responsible for monitoring compliance to the plan of care.
Again, this is all in Perfect Theory Land with 100% HIPAA compliance. As I said a few years ago, the real world doesn’t work that way, and it’s quite likely that a doctor will assume it’s okay to talk to the spouse or ask them questions about compliance. But it’s still a violation if the patient wants to pursue it as such.
For my sleep apnea test, they gave me the apparatus at the Dr’s office. I had to put it on myself and then try to sleep in it. I took it back the next day for them to read what the thing recorded while I slept.
Apparently, it recorded nothing. Something knocked out of place while I slept, I guess.
BigT from 2011 is an idiot. There was an obvious way to fake the test. Have the husband take it instead. Of course, if he has sleep apnea or some other problem, that would be a horrible thing. And I do not in any recommend anyone actually do it. (And it’s probably too late for OP anyways.) But it’s ridiculous that I didn’t think of that back then.
Actually, I think BigT of 2011 was just fine and BigT of 2016 may be slipping a bit.
It will be kinda hard to fool the technicians that this big hairy dude whose ID says he’s “Fred Jones” is in fact the “Sarah Jones” they were expecting whose medical records indicate she’s female and weights 110lbs.
Not all medical folks are brain surgeons, but almost all have mastered the basics of height, weight, and style of private parts.
