What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea? Who is at Risk?

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a very common condition in which the upper airway gets obstructed by relaxed soft structures during sleep. This obstruction leads to inadequate air exchange in the lungs, increased diaphragm and chest wall muscle contractions as efforts to relieve the obstruction occur. In addition, OSA is characterized by poor sleep quality due to multiple brief periods of waking up during the night as the body moves and loud gasps happen. Finally, due the the poor sleep quality, daytime sleepiness is a feature of this condition, with all the problems this entrails.

There are certain groups of people who are at risk of having OSA. Obese or overweight individuals, patients with enlarged tonsils or large tongues, people with a thick or large neck or individuals who have upper airways with small diameters. The formal diagnosis of OSA is made with an overnight sleep study, however it can be strongly suspected if a person has daytime sleepiness, snores loudly and if there are visible episodes of “not breathing” (apnea) during sleep.

OSA can lead to elevated blood pressure, problems with attention and concentration, daytime sleepiness, irritability, and headaches. Treatment includes the avoidance of alcohol, sleeping on a side, use of a continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) device, surgery to remove extra tissue, and the use of an implantable upper airway stimulator. A primary physician will be able to refer someone who may have this condition to a local sleep specialist.

Marco A. Ramos MD

Tips For Great Clinical Documentation Part 4

In the previous post of the series, I highlighted the importance of being consistent when documenting, as the days pass and as the patient’s situation changes. In this post, I am going to mention how creating templates can help and how and why to avoid medical record cloning

Create templates, but avoid medical record cloning.

When providers see patients and document, a sequence of actions occurs that does not vary patient to patient. First the provider sees the record, the new laboratory workup, the past history, then, he or she sees the patient and finally the creation of a new note takes place. This last step also has its own sequence because all different types of notes have defined sections that have to be present for all cases. Creating templates for documentation helps with not forgetting to include the necessary elements of the history and physical, progress note, consultation, discharge summary, postoperative note, etc. In addition to that, a template can make the provider remember to include always certain aspects that may be missed, like a nutritional assessment, for example.

One of the abilities of  electronic health record systems is the ability of being able to import parts of a previous record into a new note. Some information may change little on a day to day basis. The ability of “cut and paste” can lead to medical record cloning if appropriate measures are not taken. Medical record cloning can lead to fraud, in the sense that a chart may contain information that may not represent exactly what happens to the patient in a particular day and and the same time lead to inaccurate billing. In order to avoid medical record cloning physicians using the “cut and paste” technique must make sure that the note is unique for the day, that it reflects what happened in that particular day and that billing is consistent with the content of the note.

Marco A. Ramos MD

Second Medical Opinions PLC

Physician Advisor in Clinical Documentation Improvement