Years of Experience With Breathing Machines for Sleep Apnea

The Norton Sleep Center is a leader in providing positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy — breathing machines — for sleep apnea patients from Louisville and Southern Indiana.

PAP therapy via a mask you wear while you sleep is the most common treatment for sleep apnea. The breathing machine gently blows air through a small mask or less-intrusive nasal pillows that don’t cover your mouth.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition that causes the upper airway to collapse while you sleep. This prevents air from reaching your lungs. Providing positive air pressure through one of a variety of masks keeps the airway open.

Your board-certified and fellowship-trained physician will likely prescribe one of the following types of PAP therapy machines:

• Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most common device. This machine maintains the same level of air pressure whether you are exhaling or inhaling. You may wear a CPAP for part of the night at your diagnostic polysomnography to fine-tune the machine. Sometimes we’ll have to bring you back for a follow-up sleep study to adjust the machine for you.
• Bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) provides greater pressure while you’re inhaling than exhaling. This is an alternative for patients who have difficulty with conventional CPAP machines. BiPAP may also require fine tuning.
• Auto-adjusting PAP devices — AutoPAP — automatically vary the pressure to the lowest level your body needs to keep airways open. After a month or so, we will examine data from the machine and set a regular pressure level without need for another sleep study. AutoPAP devices can be more expensive than conventional CPAP or BiPAP machines.

Does Insurance Cover the Cost of a Sleep Apnea Machine?

Virtually every insurance plan provides some coverage for AutoPAP, BiPAP or CPAP. The questions for your insurer include how much is the copay and how long will you have to pay regular copays before the insurer pays to purchase the machine.

At Norton Sleep Center, we have extensive experience with insurance questions surrounding PAP therapy and can help you navigate the complexities.

Norton Sleep Center: Comprehensive Care That Fits Your Schedule

Norton Sleep Center locations are staffed with fellowship-trained and board-certified physicians and sleep technologists who are experienced in diagnosing and treating a variety of sleep disorders.

• All locations are accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine — the gold standard for evaluating sleep medicine services.
• We offer home sleep studies, inpatient sleep testing and a full suite of treatment options.
• Our state-of-the-art sleep labs offer private, comfortable testing suites with full- or queen-size beds and showers. Sleep studies can be scheduled seven nights a week.
• Our team of providers has more than 200 years’ collective experience diagnosing and treating sleep disorders.
• We have four convenient locations: Norton Audubon Hospital campus, Norton Brownsboro Hospital campus, Pleasure Ridge Park and on Newburg Road.
• We work with patients in the transportation industry and the U.S. Department of Transportation to assist with required verifications to show sleep therapy compliance.
• Our physicians specialize in diagnosing sleep disorders and giving you a personalized treatment plan.
• Our sleep apnea treatment experience includes continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP), CPAP alternatives such as oral devices, and Inspire upper airway stimulation.