Doctor needs my smart card data

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:33 am

Slinky wrote:I'd state it more like: "Sorry, doc, but none of the local DMEs have up to date software. Theirs is outdated for my Respironics Auto w/A-Flex."

Or maybe, "my auto PAP is the latest and greatest in CPAP and autoPAP technology and the local DMEs haven't caught up to it yet".

Additional thought to that:
And, WHY would the local DMEs even NEED the Encore Pro software, when all they hand out is the "Plus" models??? (and many without smart cards or even C-Flex) They can read the compliance hours and nights off of the LCD screens.

Den

KenC · Post by **KenC** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 11:52 am

My doc only has software for resmed machines. I want to buy something else. I called the local hosptial's home care department and they offered to read my smart card and create printouts - no charge.

Hunter1 · Post by **Hunter1** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 12:32 pm

Thanks for all the information you have shared.

I have called doctor's office and left a message for doctor to call me directly. Nurses acts like she has not slept in years by the answers she gives me.

Did call the sleep lab and they informed me they would not down load my machine since I did not purchase the machine from them. Darn, I should have purchase the machine from them and paid them the extra $1,100.00 they wanted. I could have got my data down loaded for a small fee.

Hunter1

Nodzy · Post by **Nodzy** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:34 pm

Sadly so, most medical professionals treating SDB and particularly OSA, do not have a full spectrum of intimate knowledge of the field, the machines and types… and the broad range of peripheral ailments caused or worsened by SDB.

Not having the software to read the data? To me that defines that they’re flying really loose with professionalism and proof of commitment to patients.

Your doctor not having the appropriate software, Encore Pro, to handle SmartCard data from such a widely used brand of flow generator would really worry me about his knowledge and dedication to providing the best possible care for his/her SDB patients. I’d be in a different doctor’s office from then on. Half-stepping, pretend they know, doctors cause more harm than most people realize.

Ok, I’ll take off my war paint and stow my whack-a-doc club for now.

Nodzy

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:41 pm

As long as we are picking on doctors instead of DMEs for a minute:

More and more doctors are electing to NOT become members of AMA.

I used to be able to access the CPT codes online. NOT ANY MORE!

Although the CPT system is mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and HIPAA, and the data for it appears in the Federal Register, the American Medical Association (AMA) maintains that their copyright of the CPT allows them to charge a license fee to anyone who wishes to associate RVU values with CPT codes. The AMA receives approximately $70 million annually from these fees, making them reluctant to allow the free distribution of tools and data that might help physicians calculate, record, or submit their fees accurately and fairly.

Like I gave a rat's rear what the fees for each code was! It was the darn codes I wanted to see!! Greedy bunch of buzzards.

sharon1965 · Post by **sharon1965** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:44 pm

If your doctor is a "real" sleep doctor, then I am shocked that he can't download your card!

scary, huh?
i live in a city of 200,000 with another 150,000 in the bordering towns, and we have only one sleep lab...the doctor there doesn't read smart cards...each time i go to him for a check-up he has me fill out the eppworth sleepiness scale again, asks me how i feel and when i tell him i feel like
%#*@ he tells me to come back in a few months....this has been going on since 10 months ago when i started...he told me in july that if i don't feel better by my november appointment we would book another psg...for what? it's still only one night's data, just like the original psg and the titration...but i fear that if i bring him my reports (generated on my new acquired data capable machine yippee) he'll fire me...gotta love the ontario health care system...the doc's hold all the cards (well, except the smart cards, obviously lol)

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:49 pm

Sharon, did you ever stop to think that your family doctor could probably do as good as this sleep "specialist" in monitoring and adjusting your therapy as needed w/your software downloads?? Doesn't sound like he's done one dibblety-darn thing for you since the sleep studies and order for equipment except collect more money w/each wasted office visit.

sharon1965 · Post by **sharon1965** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 5:48 pm

oh slinky
you are right about my sleep doc, but if only you were right about my gp...
who--when i went to her a couple of years ago, telling her that i suddenly went from being very active and managing my fibromyalgia well to barely being able to get up a flight of stairs, that i had gained 40 lbs in less than six months without ever having a history of weight problems and that i felt like i was falling apart--told me to eat less, move more and take antidepressants...i had to tell her that i had sleep apnea, and even after my dx and rx, she still hasn't acknowledged that i actually have a serious condition, won't even discuss it when i see her in fact

like i said, the docs around here hold all the cards; we have docs who refuse patients because they are too sick, have too many problems; we have docs who fire patients if they disagree with them; we have docs who refuse to refer you for a second opinion if you've already seen a specialist...we have thousands of people in this underserviced area who have no doc at all, and the wait time for specialists can be as long as 18 mos.; and if you already have a gp, no one else will take you...not even in the next big city 2 hours from here; when my son was born prematurely, no pediatrician would take him because my older daughter had been in a gp's care...trust me when i say i have no recourse; it's sad, but true

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:12 pm

Shucks, Nodzy, I "ain't" got no intenshun of holstering my "whack-a-doc" club! I'm keeping it handy to keep them inline at all times!!

extremeliver · Post by **extremeliver** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:20 pm

Slinky wrote:Whoops, I just re-read the original post in this thread! Duh!! Hunter1 has the Respironics Auto w/A-Flex. Doesn't A-Flex REQUIRE EncorePro v.1.8??? Or can earlier versions like 1.57 or 1.6 also process the data from the A-Flex?

We "might" have to cut that sleep doctor some slack if 1.8 is the software that is needed.

And NO, there is no way I can bring myself to cut any of the DMEs any slack for not having EncorePro 1.8. Sooner or later they are going to HAVE to provide a few Respironics Autos w/A-Flex whether they like it or not (and you KNOW they are NOT gonna like it!)

I would accept no excuse for a DME not having the latest software because they get it for FREE. they just need it to download it from the website. According to my DME, Respironics will even supply them with card readers for free as well.

MidnightOwl · Post by **MidnightOwl** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:48 pm

Hunter1,

You may have no leverage with the local DME's but someone in your doctor's office definitely does. Why not ask the nurse (or whoever usually directs patients to a supplier) to call up their favorite company and ask them to read your card as a favor to your doctor's office.

Even if you'd purchased your CPAP from them you'd still only be one customer. The doctor's office controls hundreds.

Midnightowl

extremeliver · Post by **extremeliver** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:52 pm

Hunter1, check your PM's (personal messages) if you have not already done so. The link is in the upper right corner of the screen.

Doctor needs my smart card data

Another Reason To Love the American Medical Association-NOT!