Harlan County Health System Receives Sleep Lab Accreditation

Harlan County Health System recently underwent a full survey with the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), and is now fully accredited to perform Sleep Studies or Polysomnography testing in house, using qualified sleep rooms and sleep technologists.
This testing can be performed at the hospital in Alma, keeping the health system’s patients from having to travel out of town for this study.
Your health care provider may recommend a sleep test for you if he or she suspects you have a sleep related breathing condition such as Sleep Apnea.
Indications that may prompt a physician to recommend a sleep test study could include, snoring, waking up feeling tired or waking up early, feeling run down, overwhelming daytime drowsiness, restless legs while sleeping, and sleep walking to name a few. A sleep test is used in helping to diagnose sleep disorders in patients. The test records breathing, heart rate, the amount of oxygen in the patient’s blood, brain waves and various other things. It monitors the patient while they sleep to help in identifying sleep disruptions and why they are occurring.
The testing is simple; the patient arrives in the evening close to bedtime and stays overnight in one of the designated sleep rooms. Rooms are private and include a private bathroom, no rooms are shared with other patients. The Technologist will connect the patient to sensors that will monitor different readings throughout the night. The patient may have a harder time falling asleep, or sleep as well as they would at home, and this is expected. A full night’s sleep is not necessary to achieve accurate sleep test results. Sleep lab patients are usually done testing and released to go home in the early morning hours.
Sleep studies have evolved over the years...besides sleep-related problems, the tests can also reveal more serious health problems, including pulmonary (lung) and cardiovascular (heart) issues.
For more information regarding sleep testing it is recommended you contact your health care provider and discuss any questions or concerns you may have with them.