Could you have a sleep disorder?

Columbia Physician Center 350 W. Columbia Street Suite LL10 Testing Facility Suite 210 Physician Clinic Evansville, IN 47710 812/450-3852

Sleep deprivation is much more than an inconvenience. It's a health concern that shouldn't be ignored. Left untreated, some sleep disorders can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, sexual dysfunction, chronic fatigue and accidents. If you suffer from symptoms of a sleep disorder, talk to your primary care physician about being tested.

Who Needs a Sleep Study?
Our Services
What You Can Expect
Our Medical Staff
Our Facility
Insurance Coverage

Who Needs a Sleep Study?

If you have sleep symptoms that last longer than a few weeks, you may need a sleep study. Talking to a Deaconess Physician about your ongoing sleep problems is important. Certain types of sleep disorders if left untreated , can lead to high blood pressure, sexual dysfunction, accidents, chronic fatigue adn heart disease.

Symptoms of a Sleep Disorder
Symptoms of a sleep disorder may include loud snoring or snorting, restless sleeping, excessive daytime sleepiness, restless legs and insomnia. A sleeping partner may also notice that you stop breathing for periods of time when sleeping. You may want to use the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, a screening tool to help gauge your degree of fatigue. While the tool is not meant to diagnose any particular sleep disorder, it may indicate if you should consult a physician.

Talking to Your Health Care Provider
Be prepared to answer questions about your health history. Try to keep a daily sleep diary for a week or two. Write down teh time you go to bed, the time you wake up, and anything that seems to affect your sleep. Then your health care provider can refer you to a sleep specialist and recommend a sleep study.

 Our Services

With a highly trained staff, a wide range of services and a fully accredited program, the Deaconess Sleep Center is ready to help patients with a wide range of conditions. Our professionals can diagnose many sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy, insomnia, parasomnia and hypersomnia. Patients age five and older can be treated. Referral from a primary care physician is required for all Deaconess Sleep Center services, including: 

• Initial Evaluation
• Polysomnogram Sleep Studies
• CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), BIPAP and Auto SV Sleep Studies
• Maintenance of Wakefulness Testing
• Multiple Sleep Latency Testing
• Patient Follow-Up

We take care of the entire sleep medicine process, following patients from consult through treatment and follow-up visits, making things as simple and easy for our patients and their health care providers.

What You Can Expect

In many cases, you will need to stay overnight. You will sleep in a private room, much like a hotel or hospital room. Most people don’t have trouble sleeping during the study. In the morning you can go home. Sometimes you may be asked to stay for a daytime nap study.

Before Your Study
Your health care provider will tell you how to prepare. Ask if you should take any of your usual medications the day of your study. You may also need to:

• Avoid napping.
• Avoid caffeine and alcohol.
• Take a shower and wash your hair (don’t use hair conditioner, hair spray and skin lotions).
• Eat dinner before you come to the sleep clinic. Pack a snack if you need one before bedtime.
• Bring what will make you comfortable. You may want your pajamas and robe, slippers, personal hygiene items and even your own pillow.

What happens during a sleep study?
You will be asked to arrive between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. for nighttime testing or between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. for daytime testing. Upon arrival, you will be escorted to a comfortable suite that is similar to a home bedroom. A Sleep Center professional will spend approximately one hour attaching sensors that will monitor your brain activity and other functions. The sensors are then plugged into a machine that will monitor your sleep. A camera in your room may record your body movements. You will be allowed to sleep for 6 to 8 hours. Throughout the night, you will be able to reach a technician via an intercom. In the morning, you may use a private shower before leaving the Sleep Center, usually between 6 and 7 a.m.

What a Sleep Study Shows
A sleep study monitors all the stages of your sleep. To do this, the following are recorded:

• Eye movements
• Heart rate, brain waves and muscle activity
• The level of oxygen in your blood
• Breathing and snoring
• Sudden leg or body movements

If you have breathing problems, Continuous Positive Airway Pressue (CPAP) may be used. CPAP is a device that can help you breathe and improve your sleep. It may be used during the second half of your study or on another night. The study will show if CPAP works for you.

Our Medical Staff

The Deaconess Sleep Center's professional staff includes physicians with advanced training in sleep medicine, registered polysomnographic technologists, respiratory therapists and clerical support. Our Medical Director is Arthur Bentsen, MD. Deaconess Sleep Center’s physicians are specially trained in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders. They have over 20 years of combined experience in sleep medicine and stay up to date on the latest diagnostic technology and treatment techniques. Deaconess Sleep Center’s therapists are all highly skilled and dedicated. Our therapists have over 80 years of experience and multiple certifications to assist you through the entire testing process.

Our Facility

The Deaconess Sleep Center is convenient and designed to make you feel at home, with comfortable sleeping accommodations that include your own private bath-and-bed suite. Our facility is located in the Columbia Physicians Center building at 350 W. Columbia St.. The Physician Clinic is locted in Suite 210 and Testing Facility in Suite LL10. We are just east of and across the street from the main hospital campus. Our facility includes eight spacious suites, allowing patients to be tested with ease and comfort. Sleeping accomodations include your own private bed-and-bath suite.

Insurance Coverage

Sleep Center testing is an outpatient procedure covered to some extent by most insurance plans. However, as individual policies vary, you should contact your insurance provider to confirm what portions of the testing may be covered.

For more information about sleep disorders, contact your primary care physician or the Deaconess Sleep Center at 812/450-3852 or by e-mail