Had card read....is this all?

sunny16 · Post by **sunny16** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:44 pm

I have been reading this forum for a while and have been on CPAP since middle of may. I have enjoyed reading all the comments and concerns here and have learned alot. I finally took in my card to the DME provider and had it read. I recieved a printout that only showed the times used and that the pressure remained as it should. Is there anything other information that I should be getting from reading the card? If not, what is the need to get my own card reader and program, spending all that money? By the way, the CPAP seems to be improving my life somewhat. I have not been as tired/sleepy as I was before.

Thanks in advance for any info on the card reading.

Machine is the Respironics Pro? and Activa mask. Love the mask and haven't had any problems using the machine or the mask. I do find some night I wake up and take the mask off and then go back to sleep.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 3:49 pm

If your machine is just a Pro (not a Pro 2) there isn't any info of interest you can get from it....how many hours of use ("compliance") is all a simple Pro can give.

But if it's a Pro 2 yes, there's a lot more info available than just a one page report.

If you've got a Respironics REMstar Pro 2 and the DME gave you just a one page report, they probably just printed out the single page "Summary" report instead of bringing up the Full Details report where they could have printed out quite a few pages worth of "Daily Details" graphs and charts for the last 5 nights just before you gave them the card to download.

Look on the top of your machine at the full name painted on top. If it says Respironics Pro, you're out of luck and have already seen all the data that machine can record.

But if the machine says Respironics Pro 2 on top, you can go back to your DME and tell them you want printouts of the "Full Details" Report (that's the name of the type of report you want.) If they are going to charge you by the page for printing, the first three pages of the "Full Details" report are uninteresting. You don't really need those first 3 pages unless you just want them. I'd be interested only in getting printouts beginning with page 4. That's where the juicy details start.

Page 4 is where you start getting the charts and graphs showing "Sleep Therapy Daily Details" and "Summary of Daily Details" for the last days prior to the download. It will be a dozen pages at most for them to print out, so don't let them try to put you off by acting like it would be a big deal or a huge print job to print those "Sleep Therapy Daily Details" charts for you.

You don't have to take your smart card back to them (the old data was erased from the Smart Card when they did the download.) But, the data from that download is still sitting right there in their computer within their Encore Pro patient file for you. They can pull it back up in their Encore, have it display "Full Details", and print everything from page 4 on for you.

It's all still stored right there in their computer. Lots of charts and graphs for those last 5 days, showing what events slipped through, what your AHI was for each of those 5 days, leak rate information, snores, etc.

If you have a Pro 2 machine, that is.

sharonious · Post by **sharonious** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 8:27 pm

you got something. I have the Pro 2 and asked my DME to read it. They say they don't have the software. Wha? I've been on bipap since mid-February and no one, not once, has checked the card. I saw the pulmonologist for the first time since Feb. and he didn't even ask if I am compliant let alone ask to monitor results by seeing the card. I am happy I am getting between 6 and 8 hrs. a night with it on and have come to believe I can't rely at all on medicos. Sigh....... I will ask the pulmonologist by telephone about whether he wants to monitor my condition by reading the card. I bet I won't get very far. Maybe it is healthcare in the South or maybe I am just a p--- poor self-advocate. Sharonious

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:32 pm

I think it's healthcare all over the country, Sharon. Doctors and DMEs are not the least bit interested in data from these machines. Not a bit.

The only reason they might ever take a quick peek, imho, would be:

1. if the insurance company isn't going to pay the DME for rental unless the DME "proves" the patient is being compliant. No matter how much data the machine can show, all they'll glance at are "hours of use".

2. if the doctor has ordered a trial on autopap to determine a best SINGLE pressure to use, they will take a quick look at the 90th (some machines 95th) percentile pressure. No matter how much data the machine can show, all they'll glance at is that one number.

They have neither the time nor the interest to pour over the data the way we do. They miss a lot, don't they?

neversleeps · Post by **neversleeps** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:37 pm

They miss so much it borders on negligence.....

sunny16 · Post by **sunny16** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 9:22 am

I'm checking on the machine I have. Not at home right now. I called the DME and they will call me back if there is more info that they can get from the card. The Dr. only cared that I have not been using the machine a full night all the time unless she had more info than I got. I will let you know if I can get more info from the DME today or tomorrow. I'm just interested in what else the card will show me and how I'm doing. Thanks for the replies and other thoughts.

Sergeant Bob · Post by **Sergeant Bob** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 10:29 am

They miss so much it borders on negligence.....

One thing they don't miss is, the $700 (of $3,200 for the entire study) he charged just to read my study and say "Yep, needs an APAP".

He prescribed an APAP because I wasn't properly titrated in the study.

wb9tpg · Post by **wb9tpg** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 11:43 am

Having just purchased the Encore software; I can tell you I'm very surprised how little data they can get by reading the card with that software. It's all extracted and loaded into the MSSQL DB; but there is very little meaningful reports available except for compliance reports in Encore.

Adding myEncore gave me access to excellent reports to be able to see what's really happening. The doctors appear to rely on a sleep study to get this info.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 12:05 pm

wb9tpg,

To get more "meaningful" reports out of the Encore Pro software, you have to select "Details" instead of leaving it on "Summary" (the default).....which just gives the compliance information that you are seeing.

christinequilts · Post by **christinequilts** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 12:50 pm

Most of us who use Encore Pro have to stumble around to figure out how to get all the info instead of just compliance so it doesn't surprise me that most DME's have the same problem. Even after using as much as I have I forget to check the complete information option when looking at reports all the time and you don't realize it until you see the report is only 3-4 pages instead of 10-14. When I first got it I also had a hard time figuring how to transfer the data from my Synchrony BiPAP ST since it uses a dirrect cable connection instead of a card. How quickly does the data transfer with the card happen? It takes several minutes to download my data even if its only a couple nights worth- I usually start the download and walk away for 10 minutes since a watched pot never boils. It is nice that it holds up to 6 months full nightly data so I don't have to worry about losing any if I don't do it for several weeks but I wish it was faster.

I have always ran Encore on my laptop with Win200Pro since the program says its only compatible with 2000Pro or XP-Pro...plus I would need an adapter to connect it to my desktop. Has anyone used Encore Pro on XP-home or does everyone who has it have XP-Pro?

wb9tpg · Post by **wb9tpg** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 4:59 pm

Anonymous wrote:To get more "meaningful" reports out of the Encore Pro software, you have to select "Details" instead of leaving it on "Summary" (the default).....which just gives the compliance information that you are seeing.

Thanks, I never knew that option was there. It's difficult to find.

jdacal · Post by **jdacal** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 6:10 pm

Runs fine on XP home for me.

Im2tired · Post by **Im2tired** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 8:41 pm

We have XP Home and can't get the database to load. Does anyone know what we are doing wrong. We waited overnight (some people said it took a long time). We get the following message: Encore Pro is unable to connect to the data base server.

My boyfriend emailed them and they said that "We are happy to assist our home care providers with using this software" but we needed to call. Has anyone else had any luck with their service since they specifically say that it's for drs. sleep labs and home health care providers? Of course I do provide health care to my self at home and I must say it it much better than what my doctors provide most of the time!

I think the conspiracy to keep this information from us is outrageous. It's our health - how can they justify not letting us have access to it w/o going to our doctor or the DME? I have an insulin pump and not only can I control all the features, I can download all the information! I can get most of the information right off the pump. We should be able to go right to the machine and find out how many times we stopped breathing last night. On days when I feel lightheaded, I want to know what happened while I was sleeping. I just don't see my doctor looking at my results on a day to day basis and comparing to everything else that's going on with my health.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just used to being able to being able to get my own information and make decisions about my health myself.

Had card read....is this all?

Had card read....is this all?

At least........