Sleep Apnea

Our sleep clinic follows national and Tennessee Guidelines for the prescribing of controlled substances. These guidelines include minimizing use of controlled substances and treating patients with the lowest possible doses. For new patients who reside outside of Tennessee, specific medications such as opioids may not be able to be prescribed.  Therefore, we require that new patients residing outside of Tennessee have a treating physician willing to assume prescriptive responsibilities for opioid prescriptions. To minimize miscommunication between patients and providers, and to ensure our patients will have continuity of care, our sleep specialists will not write opioid prescriptions for new patients residing outside of Tennessee who do not have a local provider willing to assume this responsibility. In turn, our sleep specialists will only recommend prescription of medications which have been used by the patient in a safe, appropriate, and stable manner. Intermittent reevaluations are available when appropriate, and we are always available to answer any questions referring providers have during this process. 

For more information, visit https://www.vumc.org/compliance/opioiduseintennessee.