Review by Donna Craig, RPSGT
Site Manager
Baptist Sleep Institute West
Knoxville, TN
BEST TECH SUPPORT IN THE INDUSTRY
A few factors we considered before purchasing the Compumedics equipment with Profusion PSG software included ease of use, product reliability and cost efficiency. Customer support after purchase was also an important factor and their after-sale support is excellent. On the rare occasions when we have had to send equipment in for repair, they were able to ship overnight to us replacement parts to be used until ours was fixed. Their tech support is probably the best in the industry. We basically wanted to purchase a system that has a good reputation within the Sleep community.
EQUIPMENT & SOFTWARE FEATURES THAT WILL AFFECT THE SLEEP MARKET
The Profusion PSG software comes with many great features. A few of those impressive features include automated scoring, hot keys for use while running the sleep study and while scoring, customized montages and built-in measuring tools for waveform clarification.
The automated scoring makes it quick and easy to generate a preliminary report immediately following the collection of the data during the study. This aids the medical staff by providing a quick overview of the studies done the night before and gives them an idea of the severity of any sleep disorder seen.
There are many hot keys for the ease of staging, insertion of tech comments throughout the night, and CPAP pressure adjustments. The ability to customize montages based upon the need of our Sleep Institute was an important factor in the decision-making process. We needed to be able to run a variety of studies based upon the individual needs of our patients.
The built-in measuring tools make it easy to distinguish between different types of waveforms whenever clarification is necessary. The most important feature however is the ability to score at the same time as data collection. This has drastically cut back on the amount of time it takes for us to finalize reports and get the results out to referring physicians and provide better care for our patients.
Equipment like this will drastically affect the sleep market by increasing the pressure put upon labs with less up-to-date equipment to move quicker and work harder at getting results out to patients and referring physicians in a timely manner. With more sleep facilities opening across the country, the ability to provide a quick-turn around time on study results becomes a very important factor when choosing the appropriate software.
USER-FRIENDLY SOFTWARE CUSTOMIZED TO MEET NEEDS
Profusion PSG is very user-friendly. With this software, scoring is very quick, easy and simple. Also, all reports can easily be customized to meet the needs of our Sleep Institute. A lot of the staff was anxious about learning how to use a new system after using another software program for many years. However, the entire staff was able to quickly learn the new program and was surprised at how easy it was to understand and use.
ENHANCED EFFICIENCY THROUGH TRAINING AND EDUCATION SESSIONS
Upon installation of the new equipment Compumedics provided a full week of hands-on training. After this training session they have a 24-hour tech-support line for any questions or problems that may arise day or night. Compumedics also hosts several training and education sessions throughout the year to enhance the efficiency and proficiency of the Profusion PSG software.
IMPROVED CONCORDANCES RUNNING WITH STAGING AND EVENT SCORING
The only area that currently needed any improvement Compumedics has already addressed. According to new guidelines set forth by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, concordances must be run between scorers not only in regards to staging but also respiratory and leg movement events. With our current system we are only able to run concordance with stages. However with the new Profusion PSG 3, just released as this article is being published, concordances will be able to be run both with staging and other event scoring.