How Does Inspire Work?

Inspire works inside your body with your natural breathing process to treat obstructive sleep apnea. While you sleep, Inspire delivers mild stimulation to key airway muscles, allowing the airway to remain open. The Inspire system is controlled by a small handheld sleep remote. Simply turn Inspire on before bed and off in the morning when you wake up.

Inspire therapy is for people who meet the following requirements:

• Diagnosed with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (AHI 15-65)
• Cannot use or get consistent benefit from CPAP
• Not significantly obese
• 22 years of age or older.

Inspire is reimbursed by most major insurance providers, either as a covered policy or approved on an individual basis. Your doctor and the insurance team at Inspire will work with you for approval.

Medicare is reimbursing the cost of Inspire therapy based on medical necessity in many geographies across the United States. An Inspire trained physician can discuss Medicare coverage in your area during an initial consultation.

Inspire therapy is on the Federal Supply Schedule, making it available for veterans at select VA and military hospitals across the United States.

Every insurance plan is different. Typically, you can expect to pay the cost of any unmet deductible for the year, along with any required copay or coinsurance fee for a surgery.

No, you do not need approval from your insurance company before your first visit.

Like CPAP, an Inspire doctor can print out a usage record of Inspire to show the medical examiner that you are using your prescribed sleep apnea treatment. By proving compliance, there should be no issues renewing your commercial driver% license.

A significant decrease in snoring has been found as a secondary effect of Inspire. 90% of bed partners report no or soft snoring by their partner.

Inspire typically feels like a mild muscle contraction. The stimulation should not be painful or uncomfortable.

The battery in Inspire is designed to last for approximately 11 years. Once it is running low, it is replaced during a simple outpatient procedure.

Recovery time after surgery will vary. You can expect some pain and swelling at the small incision sites for a few days after the procedure. Most patients return home the same day and take over-the-counter pain medication if needed. You can resume normal, non-strenuous activities within a few days or as directed by your doctor. Most patients have a full recovery within a couple of weeks.

A doctor will need to test your current device with Inspire to determine if the two interact. If they do not interact, you may be a candidate.

Inspire should not limit normal daily activities once you are fully healed. You should ask your Inspire trained doctor about any activities that are particularly strenuous, like weight lifting, or those that entail a large or unpredictable range of motion in your upper body and/or arms, such as working as a firefighter.

Generally, the Inspire system should be checked 1 to 2 times a year.

All Inspire patients can undergo most imaging technologies across the entire body including CT, ultrasound, and X-ray scans. Depending on the model of your Inspire system, you may be able to undergo MRI on the head, neck and extremities, provided certain conditions and precautions are followed. If you are a current Inspire patient, please visit the “For Inspire Patients” section of the website to learn if your device allows MRI Conditional scans.