Who makes the diagnosis?

What Medicare says

A physician reads the study.

Medicare item 12250, the home sleep study, requires a report by a qualified adult sleep medicine practitioner with personal direct review of raw data. The schedule fee from 1 July 2026 is $401.25.

The split

Patients want a diagnosis. Many clinics sell a recording.

A technician fits the sensors. A sleep scientist scores the recording. A physician reads it and makes the diagnosis.

Two regulators

One for the service. One for the device.

Section 133 of the National Law covers how a registered practitioner's service is advertised. The Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code covers the CPAP machine, the mask and the splint, even in a shop with no clinician on staff.

What we found

19 say who reads it. 8 never do.

Of 27 sites that offer a sleep study, 19 tie it to a physician or specialist who reports it. 8 never say so on the pages we read. Some of those 8 are physician practices. They still do not say it.

Device pages

0 of 31 carry a mandatory statement.

6 sites name a device brand they supply. None of the 161 pages we read carried ALWAYS FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS FOR USE. A bare listing of name, picture, price and point of sale is exempt. A page that says what the machine treats is not.

Reviews and quizzes

7 publish reviews. 6 offer a quiz.

In 3 of the 7, a published review describes a diagnosis, a device or a result. Of the 6 sites with a quiz or risk test, 2 say the result is not a diagnosis or does not replace a sleep study.

This week

Name each step and who does it.

Say who reads the recording. Check the subject of every diagnose. Make the quiz say it estimates risk. Take down reviews that mention a symptom, a diagnosis, a device or a result. Check every page that says what a device treats.

Tap for the full measurement and the rewrite table