Don't Count Out Your DME

jeepdoctor · Post by **jeepdoctor** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 8:09 pm

I bought the Respironics Encore Pro software and smart card reader from my DME for $ 100.00. Beats any other price I could find. Anybody out there get a better price?

dllfo · Post by **dllfo** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:48 pm

Nope....and that Green Country is some pretty area....I'm from Tulsa originally.

I am still dealing with my insurance company for reimbursement, just waiting for the stars and planets and one doctor to align themselves, then my cost will hopefully hit zero

I think there is a misconception among us, myself included originally, that all people who deliver/set up the equipment are DMEs. I was shocked to learn from a couple of real DMEs who come here, just how much a good one knows.

No offense to the Apria people, they DO have registered and certified respiratory techs, but when I ask them questions, they don't get to use this software. Not that they aren't smart, they simply aren't trained. My observation after dealing with Apria and Timberlake people. Given some training our guys would be better equipped to serve us. Derision of their abilities really isn't fair to most of them. Again...just one observation.

IF you have a real DME, like the two I am thinking of, I envy you. I called Apria with Encore Pro data. Their HEAD tech is barely conversant in it. I called the Sleep Study Center and they can't even download it. In fairness to them, they don't use it. I called their .....uh....guy who can read the data and set titration....he can read it. For $$$$$$. Didn't really have time to talk to a nonpaying customer. But that is ok. My 70-80 days of EncorePro data trumped his one night of info, so my wife got the Auto BiPAP machine I wanted her to have.

Be nice to the good ones, they have to make up for the rest....

jeepdoctor · Post by **jeepdoctor** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:19 am

dllfo wrote "But that is ok. My 70-80 days of EncorePro data trumped his one night of info, so my wife got the Auto BiPAP machine I wanted her to have."

You have touched on my concern regarding data collected by a one night PSG and a one night titration study. Is one night's data statistically significant, especially when the study is conducted in a strange setting with 30 electrodes hooked to one's body? And one has difficulty falling asleep? That's one of the reasons why I bought a recording pulse oximeter with software. And the results are interesting. 12 desats per hour at the sleep lab and 5.3 per hour at home. 68% max desat at the sleep lab versus 81% at home.

I too wanted an auto cpap machine so that I could collect pressure-AHI and pressure-snore data at home, but the pseudo sleep doc refused to prescribe it. He said that my case didn't warrant an auto cpap. That's when I should have walked out of his office with an uplifted middle finger, but polteness and my wife's presence kept me from doing what I should have done. I am now in the middle of unraveling this unfortunate cpap mess with the objective of getting a Remstar M auto.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:11 am

The 2 DME companies I've dealt with both provided a 1 month rental of an APAP specifically to augment the PSG data to make sure it was correct.

Interestingly, both times it was spot-on.

jeepdoctor · Post by **jeepdoctor** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 11:53 am

Anonymous wrote:The 2 DME companies I've dealt with both provided a 1 month rental of an APAP specifically to augment the PSG data to make sure it was correct.

Interestingly, both times it was spot-on.

My DME never suggested such a proposition. I wish they had.

dllfo · Post by **dllfo** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:19 pm

Guest...I would NEVER argue with the DME people, nor their computations. I believe all of them to be good, honest folks.

But anyone who can say, with a straight face, that a person who is on their 3rd sleep test, who drugged themselves so they can finally sleep, is giving out accurate data...well, I won't call them a liar because I really don't know all the nuances of this area. But ...again, that was ONE night on Ambien or whatever and I had almost 3 months of Encore Pro. BUT the main thing that got us the unit is probably the fact our doctor asked me about my program, I showed him the encore pro on myself, how I was working with a group on the internet, etc. and then I gave him a "flyer" off the internet, describing the Respironics Auto BiPAP with HH. I also emphasized that this unit is like having 4 units in 1, giving my wife a lot of flexibility in her sleep program. He liked it, we got it. I picked up the prescription after his people faxed it over to Courtnee. I also gave both of them printouts of her data.

Jeepdoctor, our sleep study center had a tech who was vehement that my wife did NOT need an expensive CPAP. I offered to fax him over the receipt for the unit I bought on the internet. I got it cheaper than he would have sold us a CPAP for. I spoke to the owner of the place, very, very politely explaining the ramifications of me challenging their titration numbers.

I did NOT want to do that. I like the man and his place of business. About the only way we could have "proven" anything would be to suggest his people got the paperwork crossed up. Bad business for everyone if you do that.

I really sincerely believe the mountain of data from Encore Pro and MyEncore
made the difference. If Jeepdoctor had a machine for a month, to cross check the original titration, it might do it. But my advice to jeepdoctor would be to take some info in about the Auto systems and tout their advantages to the doctor, hoping the dr. will write the prescription for the auto. I promise you the DME people won't have hurt feelings if they can sell you the auto.

I would try to find another doctor in your area if you can. That is, depending on whether or not you went to the only pulmonologist in Pryor..chuckle. I have found all but one of my last 30 doctors to be VERY reasonable if I had a good reason to ask for something.

jeepdoctor · Post by **jeepdoctor** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:38 pm

But my advice to jeepdoctor would be to take some info in about the Auto systems and tout their advantages to the doctor, hoping the dr. will write the prescription for the auto.
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The one visit I had with the pseudo sleep doctor was enough to last me a lifetime. I have no desire to return to his office.

I proposed to my DME that they swap out my Remstar Pro for a Remstar M Auto, complete with setup manual. They agreed. Unsaid, but apparently clear to the DME was that if they refused, I would turn the Pro back to them and purchase the M Auto from cpap.com. I already had this course of action greased with my insurance carrier. My cost share over a year would be the same in either case. It's just that the swap is less hassle to do.

mtandst · Post by **mtandst** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 12:47 pm

[quote="jeepdoctor"]I bought the Respironics Encore Pro software and smart card reader from my DME for $ 100.00. Beats any other price I could find. Anybody out there get a better price?

Don't Count Out Your DME

Don't Count Out Your DME

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