Did your DME provide follow up?

[Sleepy-in-AL]

OK, this is a spinoff from another thread. I thought it would make an interesting poll.

I said:

...
If they want to improve service and compliance, set policies that will result in these goals. Here are some examples of policies I would love to see. But I'm sure that the DMEs would find a way to mess this up too.

1. Make it mandatory for the dispenser to complete a followup questionaire with the patient after some number of days. This would provide the DME and the manufacturer valuable market research and give the patient an opportunity to discuss problems they are having.

2. Require that all RTs dispensing their equipment actually be trained IN DETAIL on the functions, configuration, and patient demonstration of their specific equipment.

3. Require that all dispensing DMEs offer a 2 week follow-up to read data from the equipment to determine that things are functioning as expected. For instance, is the average leak rate within the tolerance level for the particular mask? Are there any large leaks? Are there numerous leaks?

4. Respond to E-Mail sent to their public relations e-mail address whether it be positive or negative.

5. Require that dispensing DMEs provide a 24 hour hot-line for therapy related problems.

Any or all of these policies could positively impact patient care. I predict you won't see any of them implemented because DMEs don't get paid any extra for providing service or caring. They get paid UCR charges for product codes nothing more. I like others here advocate separate billing for RT time. But not while they still charge extremely over inflated rates for equipment.
...

And Guest who stated that he works for a DME said:

...
If a dme wants to be Jcaho certified, which th emajority now do, those things you listed are required anytime a new patient is setup.More and more insurance companies are also now requiring certification before they will bring a company on as a covered supplier.
...

So how many of you got these services from your DME? As always, feel free to post comments in response as well as answering the poll.

Thanks

[idahogal]

Nope!!! I was set up and have not seen the RT since. I even called and asked if they needed to do any follow up and they said "No, as long as you are not having any problems we won't ever see you" !!!!

[Big_Generator_Guy]

Nope, Near as I can tell, my sleep clinic/DME exist solely to charge my insurance and me big bucks. Little to no interest in weather the mask worked or not beyond telling me if I kept in more than 1 week I was out of luck for 6 months. THe only decent guy there was the Doc, but he had little to say about the rest of the operation..

[Goofproof]

They called me after I called them 4 times in two weeks, they said my machine was in, I drove down there, and was told it hadn't came in yet. 20 minutes when they figured I wasn't leaving without a machine, they found one and handed me a Comfortfull ff mask and said this will fit you. It took them another 20 minutes to find a users manuel they stole out of the box.

No other manuels for it, she showed me how it fit on the HH, and where the on button was, and out the door I went. They had set the pressure to 14 CM in the back secret room, where they store all the stolden manuels.

They have never checked the pressure in 2400 hours or read the card, because they can't do that, they once held my card for 3 weeks, I had to threaten them to get it back, they said, you don't need that the machine will run without it.

At one year they called and ask if I needed any supplies, So I ordered a F & M 431 Mask only, a 10 foot hose, and the two black pollen filters.

The Ins co got billed for a F & P 431 mask only, and another small gasket for the mask.

The 10 foot hose srank into a 6 foot one.

The two black pollen filters, became 2 ultra fine white filters.

The mask box part number, I crossed on the internet, was supposed to contain 1 plastic mask, one med gasket and one small gasket.

They billed the ins for the box by part number and billed for the small mask with a different part number. I went in today to get my stolen mask and was told that the box only was supposed to contain the plastic and 1 med gasket. And I wasn't supposed to get the second gasket, that they billed for, and that I had gotten LUCKY, funny I didn't feel LUCKY.

They exchanged the two fine filters, for their only, 1 pollen filter, and I will have to come back next week to exchange my 10 foot hose, and jump them about the other pollen filter. This is Lincare, folks. Brick & Mortar, They act like the Bricks fell on their heads, and the Mortar is in their pants.

Why doesn't Resmed reform them, or is this a exhample of Resmeds idea of a good provider? Jim

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): resmed, hose

[Goofproof]

Did my DME provide followup! He sure did the other night, he followed me, all the way to the ATM Machine. But I was careful, he didn't see my password. Jim

[Bamalady]

Nope.....I have learned far more reading posts here than I have learned from my physician or the DME.

[snork1]

Support from my DME? HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!
And I have tried two different ones.
Heck, I can't even get them to return a call.
The only time I spend a bunch of time at their office is when I get stuck waiting in their lobby.

At least the second DME, which I am currently using, is courteous on the rare moments when I can manage to connect with them.

[IZATIRED2]

Goofproof
Did you get your remstar auto from lincare?

I have been renting a pro2 for two months from them so it is time to purchase. I asked my sleep doc for a prescription for an auto remstar
and she sent them the script. So I called lincare to purchase it and they told me it is only for titrating for 2 weeks to find the pressure to set my cpap . I guess I wasted $4 grand plus for a sleep study.

Drew

[dllfo]

ONLY when I call them. And the only way I can get ahold of a tech is to yell
my head off and complain.

I was out of state, needed service real fast with a hardware problem. No help.
I called again. No call back. It is Friday. I asked the operator for the CEO of Apria, told her they don't have any techs working that day. I got the chief tech in the Sacramento office. He gave me his direct line after that. But I haven't had any problems since then.

I get much more out of this website than my techs. No, that is not fair. When I spoke to the head tech, he was good. He was informative. If we all had his home phone number ...pause for laughter to die down...we could get good service.

I was told the Apria techs don't get paid "by the call" or "by the visits" to our houses. If that is true, they might be more motivated by paying them a flat
or base salary, then a certain amount per service call.

[ladytonya]

My DME is actually pretty good about followup. I got a phone call a week and then a month after I took my machine home to see if everything was going okay. After 3 months I got a call to see if I needed any supplies. When i have called and asked to speak to a therapist, I have usually either gotten one on the phone at that time or have gotten a return phone call within a few hours. Additionally, I can go to CPAP Clinic every Friday if I am having problems or if I just want to meet other people who are using CPAP and discuss problems and solutions.

My sleep center is the same way. I always get a phone call back the same day as long as I leave a message by 3:00 or so. If it's later, they usually call the next morning. I have no complaints about service. Costs are a completely different story with by the sleep center and the DME (although my sleep center did give me a free ComfortLite 2 mask with nasal pillows and direct seal). Of course, the way I look at it is you get what you pay for.

Off to sleepy land! I hear my husband's BiPAP roaring away in the bedroom so I better go joint him.............

[Goofproof]

Goofproof
Did you get your remstar auto from lincare?

I got the Pro2 from Lincare through my Ins. My Ins.rents it by the month intill???, that's up in the air, neither side know..

I called my Dr, and told him I wanted a (Backup), machine, the Nurse said Ins wouldn't pay for it. I told her I was going to buy one, the Dr mailed me the perscription fpr CPAP, I sent it to CPAP.com and got a Remstar auto w/C-Flex and another HH. for $709 delivered. I bought it as a back-up but it's now #1. BTW: I got the old style not the "M". I may have to use the Pro2 just to wear it out. The Pro2 has 2400 hrs on it is less than a year. Jim

[snork1]

After I got an "extra" machine (PB420E) I dropped my defective Remstar Auto off at my DME for warranty repair. They said they would call me when they got it fixed. As a test, since i had another machine, I waited for their call instead of incessantly calling them like I usually do.

4 MONTHS LATER, still no word back. So I finally worked on getting hold of them, which takes about a week (and is NEVER possible on a Friday). They made up some story of the manufacturer dropping the ball, but it appears what happened is they got a replacement machine about a week after turning in my defective one and just never bothered to call me.

And the DME I used before this one was REALLY bad.

And my sleep doc wonders why I am desparate enough to be looking into a dental appliance as an alernative to CPAP................

[birdiebaby]

I'm saddend, but not surprised by the results and responses.

My first contact with my DME was on May 3. I have not had one phone call regarding compliance. Worse yet, orders take WEEKS to fill. My machine order was placed May 2, and I received it May 26. I placed an order for a humdifier on May 30. Partly due to Dr's office error and partly due to their error, the order didn't get approved and placed until June 15. Then, they sent me the wrong humidifier for my machine. I called the same day (June 16), and had to tell them about ResMed's humdifiers. I was asked to provide them with the correct part number for my machine . The humidifier was special ordered on June 16. I have not gotten the humidifier yet, nor I have received return phone calls following up on what's happening.

Oh, and I have twice called to tell them that they have not picked up the humidifier that was originally sent. It's still waiting in my entryway for them!

My fault. I should have just paid OOP.

**UPDATE*** : Shocker of the century... I received a call this afternoon from the DME. Just as I picked myself up off of the floor from that surprise, I was told that my humidifier was *in* and it was being shipped to me today. I will have it on Monday. Talk to y'all later...I think I need to go play the Lotto tonight.

[Amigo]

DME follow-up?!?! Isn't that an oxymoron?

In my really naive days (before CPAPTalk) at the beginning of my therapy, Apria simply shoved me out the door with what was very likely a used CPAP (for which they charged the Insurance company full price, of course), whatever headgear they had on hand, and some nasal pillows (the wrong size) because I at least made it clear that I could tolerate nothing else.

No manuals, of course, and simply instructions to call them when I needed supplies. "And how often is that?" I asked. "Well, just call us every couple of weeks and we'll go over the list of possibilities," they said. Yikes!

The pressure was set correctly, at least (14 at the time), and C-Flex was enabled at '2,' but the ramp setting, which was on the prescription, was not enabled. I had to return it to them the next day, a 45 mile round trip so they could do their "secret stuff," and give me the larger nasal pillows. Boy, was I a jerk about all this back then...lol.

Fortunately for me, I took to the therapy very well, and despite the complete lack of meaningful support I was totally compliant, and feeling great.

In relatively short order, however, I became very tired of Apria's cavalier attitude, and non-existent customer service. I changed to a private DME who is also a certified Respiratory Therapist, and although he has been very responsive, thoughtful, and professional, there have been very substantive "billing irregularities" which I am holding his feet to the fire to resolve/explain or I will contact my Insurance carrier.

No matter where you turn, it seems, it's always about the money and never the patient.

[Guest]

I must live in a different world I guess. lol I had my sleep study done on a Tuesday night. The dme called Wednesday and set me up that night. They sent a therapist to my house after I got home from work at around 6pm. She stayed well over an hour explaining every little thing for me.She even made me take everything apart and put it back together again to prove I was comfortable with what she had showed me.They called me that Friday to ask how I was doing.

The sleep doc that my primary doc sent me to called me herself the next Monday (not her staff, but her) to check on me. The DME sent me a followup letter at 2 weeks for me to fill out.Then they sent me a new card in the mail at a month with a postage paid envelope to mail mine back to them.I did that this past Monday and they called me today to tell me how it looked (Which was excellent by the way - went from an avegage of 78 apneas per hour to 1.4!!)

Then to cap it all off my primary doctors nurse called me 2 weeks ago just to check and see if I was doing okay with the machine and to make sure I was happy with both the sleep doctor and the dme.

I dunno why I'm seeing such a different result in every single area, maybe I'm just lucky. I dunno.

Or maybe everyone should just move to florida!