Crapria...why make it so difficult

I had to use Crapria as my DME. No choice as my then insurance company required it. This past February, I stopped their incessant calling me every month so they can bill my insurance in the guise of "managing my therapy". I own my unit, I've been using it for over 2 years. I use my S9 every night. I use it 8 hours a night on average and my AHI is almost always under 1. I find that I do not need supplies on the schedule they push. And still have about a years worth of pillows, hose, etc on hand. So I set it up so I will call them when I need "stuff". I buy some of my supplies from our host as the cost of my (then) copay was the same as the cost with Crapria

Fast forward to yesterday. I decided that I would like to try the Airfit P10. I am a very happy Swift FX user and it does me very well but sometimes change is good. So I call Crapria. I should have know to expect crap.

I talked to the lovely person (sic) on the phone who assured me, I could get what ever supplies I need and that yes I could get a new mask. I told her, "Great, I'll take a Airfit P10" to which she said I "will need to get a new prescription for a mask of patients choice". I said, you have one on file which is good for 3 years (I made that up) that says just that. She said I would need a new one for a new mask. I told her that last year, Crapria gave me a hybrid mask without a new script and she replied that they were wrong to do that. I tried one more time and then hung up on her.

My new insurance company has a (long) list of approved DMEs. Time to fine a new one. Does anyone have any recommendations for DMEs in the PA, DE, MD area?

aTdHvAaNnKcSe

-tino

PS APRIA if you do searches of forum entries based on your name, you might want to include CRAPRIA in your search...just sayin.

I know what you are going thru. I have used crapria since they bought out Praxair in 2010. They seem to come up with stuff similar to yours all the time. I switch from the Fitlife Total mask to the Resmed F10 all the time. When I call them, I tell them which one I want. When I ordered my VPAP from them they actually called and told be to come pick it up... only to not have it. My wife could not believe how they are.... I told her they have been like this since I started dealing with them. My insurance told me of about 6 other DME's I could deal with. They were all out of business and one only dealt with Medicare.

I would call back and talk with someone new. I just love it when someone tries to defend DME's here!

Sheriff

C R A P R I A !

There is definite reason they have been awarded this name.....

I know exactly what you mean about those harassing incessant phone calls in which they state they are calling to "Check on their Patient".

I have said it before and it deserves repeating: CRAPRIA.... I am NOT your "Patient". You provide me no medical care whatsoever. I am your "Customer"... NOT your patient. You supply me with products/good, like my local Bakery.
I have never heard anyone at my local bakery refer to me as their "Patient".

Since my dealing with them starting in 2006, each and every transaction has been pure misery.

The whole problem is that we are not considered their customers. In the 80's I worked for an organization ( in healthcare) that was "adopting models" of care to improve profitability. It's the usual crapola of paying consulting companies a lot of money to train poorly paid employees to work harder for less. This was the era of a lot of corporate "suits" with big expense accounts managing healthcare for profit. People who never got their hands dirty touching a patient.

I forget what this particular theory was called, but we had endless meetings when we were supposed to "identify the customer". We all thought it was our patients, but no, no, no. Well, ok, patients were our "customers", but only in a small way. Our other "customers" we're referring physicians and acute care hospitals, insurers, and regulators were our "customers". It was emphasized that everything we did required "marketing" to all of our customers. Silly me, I thought our responsibility was first and foremost to the patient and that it was not appropriate to have conflicts of interest, but we were "disabused" of that notion.

I get the profit model. I'm in business for myself now and I understand that I have to be mindful of the bottom line. But we were being encouraged to put profit first, people weren't even second. They were a distant notion in this management corporation's hierarchy.

Crapria is still stuck in the eighties mindset. WE are not their customer. They get referrals from our physicians and their profit comes from our insurers. We are merely "lives" or profit units to them. They don't care if we are happy with their service or if we are treated well because there are 100 more of us for every one of us who leaves them behind--an endless and profitable stream whether we are pleased or not.

They please their "real" customers greatly. They deal in such volume that they give huge price breaks to our insurers that negotiate with them. Kaiser is a big example. When I got my machine through kaiser I had to pay a 20% go-pay for purchase of the machine humidifier, mask, hose, and filter. My 20% was $120. You do the math. The Kaiser customer is entirely pleased with Crapria because the price is right. Most sleep doctors don't give a #%^* how well a DME does. They just want to write a script and never hear about it. Crapria fills the script, and most patients don't know better. The doctor customer is satisfied.

For this reason, Crapria doesn't have to please us. We are more of an annoyance than anything else. Crapria could not care less if we are unhappy, because they don't need our business. They need our doctors and insurers, not us.

The Big A or any DME......cpap equipment acquisition misery.
It's a cpap rite of passage.

Be glad you have insurance that covers your DME equipment.
Mine was "discontinued in your policy options" this year.
My last dealing w/them was last year when I played my final
$500 deductible and got a new S9. When I went to pick it up,
the "tech" was so sneaky when she set the pressure to cpap 8cm,
as the 'script dictates. I also purchased my final mask from them.
When I told her small for an UltraMirage full, she told me that was
too small for me. I just smiled and said that is what I wanted.
What a joke they are.

Get educated.
Take control.
Become your own best therapist.
I'll see you on the road.

carbonman wrote:I'll see you on the road.

How about Sunday Night Football instead?

Sheriff

Im only three moths into this, but I use a company called "Classic Sleep Care". They are in California. I first thought it was a shady outfit, but they have been nothing but good to me.

They sent a RT to my house with the machine and all the goodies. There is even a little modem on there to track sleep data via your smartphone.
I have tried several masks, non-heated hoses, oxygen adapters, filters, pads, etc.

Nothing has cost me a dime. I am supposed to pay some %, but they "accept assignment", meaning none of this has cost me a dime. There are RT's you can call anytime, and if need be, they will send someone by. All the consumables that are needed come automatically in the mail. They call and check on me every month.

They may be a shifty company, but I am super happy!

They also got my RX at 1pm on a Friday, and machine was delivered that evening.

They only deal with PAP stuff, so the "Iron Lung" (oxygen concentrator) had to be gotten locally. Classic did bring all the fittings and stuff to hook it up.