For Patients

What a patient can expect at their visit

During your first clinic visit, you will be seen by one of our physicians either during a video visit or in person at the Comprehensive Lung Center in Oakland. We will talk about your concerns and take a comprehensive history about your sleep quality, energy levels during the day, and any breathing issues that you have or had in the past. We also get to know you as a person and talk about what you do on a daily basis and how we can help to improve your daily functioning.

After taking a history and doing an exam, we will talk about any testing that we recommend in order to better evaluate your breathing and your sleep. Some of these tests include sleep studies that can be done at home. Other testing can include blood work or pulmonary function tests, which can be done in Oakland or at an outlying facility.

If we feel that you need breathing support at night during sleep, we will work with you to find a comfortable mask and PAP settings so that your breathing is supported and you are able to sleep well.

For some patients we perform in person mask fit and PAP titration sessions, called PAP naps. During a PAP nap patients come to the Montefiore Hospital sleep lab during the day. Patients are first fitted with a mask, and then gradually introduced to positive pressure ventilation through the mask. The pressures are then titrated to a comfortable and effective level for the patient. For patients who may need more breathing support during the day, these sessions also offer the opportunity to titrate and teach mouthpiece ventilation, i.e. sip and puff ventilation, and cough assist.