I've noticed something "interesting" - I have a Remstar Plus, and it measures compliance in "sessions > 4 hrs" - which I don't have many - but for an odd reason
Most nights, I sleep a BIT less than 8 hrs - usually around 6.5-7.5 hrs - the BIG thing is that I consistantly get up 1/2 way through to use the bathroom - get up, turn off the machine (there went my 3.5 hours), take off the mask, use the bathroom, come back, put on the mask, turn on the machine, and back to bed
So, I have something like 260 hours - which is about 6 hrs/night (there was one week when I had a cold - forget it - could not breathe) - but only like 18 sessions of > 4 hrs
Should I worry about being "non compliant" - or should I figure out a way to train by bladder to wait till the morning
Compliance?
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You are compliant. What the machine records isn't as important as your therapy. I am not that familair with your equipment. On my Resmed Spirit I have a button on the front that stops the air flow but does not turn off the machine. This pause in delivery does not restart the complaince clock. However if I was to switch the machine off in the back then it would effect the recording. You should have the function on your equipment.
Pause?
I don't find a PAUSE feature on my REMstar Auto, nor in the user manual. In my case I actually don't care about the "nights > 4 hrs" statistic, since I can look at Derek's graph which accumulates the total time and reports the "compliance" statistic. The MyEncore program appears to do the same.
I'm sorry for people who are on a complicated rental agreement between their insurance, DME, and physician who are reliant on the "NIGHTS >4 HRS" statistic (meaning 4 CONSECUTIVE hrs) as a measure of compliance, and therefore reimbursement. Or worse, the providers will come in the middle of the night and take away your machine, mid-breath, because the numbers weren't right.
I have left the machine running occasionally just to "trick" the statistics, but only out of morbid curiosity to see what would happen. It appears as a giant "LEAK" for a few minutes duration. But the clock just keeps on ticking. That is one option if you really need to rely on that statistic for purposes of reimbursement. That will seriously skew the "Average Max Leak" statistic, and your choice of mask could be called into question. Therefore, not advisable.
If the noise bothers, I have put a sock in the tube, which appears as a gigantic "apnea event", and the pressure on my auto zooms up to the max and stays there for a while. The ramp button will cause it to start over from the baseline. The latter method is also inadvisable since you are actually creating artificial "clinical events" which could raise alarms with your physician, or require some explaining. But they probably won't take away your machine. Any more, I don't even bother, just turn it off and on when I need to.
(Another observation, I get up less frequently at night now that I am using APAP. I think there's a good medical reason for that, but that's another post.)
Better solution is to own the machine outright, avoid the messy rental agreements that require compliance monitoring based on the >4hr statistic. As Mike suggests, the important thing is to just "know" that you are compliant, based on total hours, not some artificial statistic. (Whoever came up with that statistic anyway? Should go sit in the corner, tall chair, pointy hat).
I am willing to guess that the "consecutive hours" clock restarting when you turn the blower on and off is probably a BUG in the REMstar controller program. I discovered it (as you did) the hard way, and felt really cheated when the "days >4 hr" failed to increment. I'm over it.
_________________
CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): DME, Ramp, auto, APAP
I'm sorry for people who are on a complicated rental agreement between their insurance, DME, and physician who are reliant on the "NIGHTS >4 HRS" statistic (meaning 4 CONSECUTIVE hrs) as a measure of compliance, and therefore reimbursement. Or worse, the providers will come in the middle of the night and take away your machine, mid-breath, because the numbers weren't right.
I have left the machine running occasionally just to "trick" the statistics, but only out of morbid curiosity to see what would happen. It appears as a giant "LEAK" for a few minutes duration. But the clock just keeps on ticking. That is one option if you really need to rely on that statistic for purposes of reimbursement. That will seriously skew the "Average Max Leak" statistic, and your choice of mask could be called into question. Therefore, not advisable.
If the noise bothers, I have put a sock in the tube, which appears as a gigantic "apnea event", and the pressure on my auto zooms up to the max and stays there for a while. The ramp button will cause it to start over from the baseline. The latter method is also inadvisable since you are actually creating artificial "clinical events" which could raise alarms with your physician, or require some explaining. But they probably won't take away your machine. Any more, I don't even bother, just turn it off and on when I need to.
(Another observation, I get up less frequently at night now that I am using APAP. I think there's a good medical reason for that, but that's another post.)
Better solution is to own the machine outright, avoid the messy rental agreements that require compliance monitoring based on the >4hr statistic. As Mike suggests, the important thing is to just "know" that you are compliant, based on total hours, not some artificial statistic. (Whoever came up with that statistic anyway? Should go sit in the corner, tall chair, pointy hat).
I am willing to guess that the "consecutive hours" clock restarting when you turn the blower on and off is probably a BUG in the REMstar controller program. I discovered it (as you did) the hard way, and felt really cheated when the "days >4 hr" failed to increment. I'm over it.
_________________
CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): DME, Ramp, auto, APAP
Last edited by Ric on Mon Dec 12, 2005 11:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
He who dies with the most masks wins.
Oh - the GOOD news is I'm not on a rental - I own the box, so compliance isn't a problem - just stuff for when I visit the MD - I'm feeling really good, but decided to try a new mask (not that I really dislike what I have - just see if there is something BETTER - hey, I needed some filters, so I bought a new mask too.)
I will say that there are nights when I've taken the mask off 3/4 of the way through the night - usually when I could not get comfortable in bed for other reasons.
I will say that there are nights when I've taken the mask off 3/4 of the way through the night - usually when I could not get comfortable in bed for other reasons.
- 73 de KG2V
4 posts
• Page 1 of 1