Really need to vent about Hybrid avail.

idahogal · Post by **idahogal** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:31 am

I am so frustrated. I HAVE to go to a local DME for my equipment. I have been trying to get a hybrid mask for 3 weeks. The DME just keeps telling me that they are waiting for it to come in. I talked to someone again yesterday and they said "maybe they are behind on manufacturing because EVERYONE wants one." I told her that manufacturing must not be the problem because I could order it today from cpap.com and have it within a few days. There was just total silence on the other end of the phone. I know she really really wanted to comeback with "well then get it there." Every night when I have to "seal" my mouth shut to avoid leaks I can't help but think about how nice it would be to have my new mask. Has anyone else had this problem and what in the heck is taking so long?

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:00 am

Has anyone else had this problem and what in the heck is taking so long?

Kind of sounds like a DME problem to me. Why not just buy it yourself, and skip the DME. Maybe someday OSA will be classified as a self-treatable illness, and the insurance companies will become aware of all the money they could have saved.

KansasRT · Post by **KansasRT** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:01 am

In my case, the hybrid mask is sold by a company that I normally do not order from. I have had to fill out credit information and be approved before I can order. This maybe the case. That can take a while.

krousseau · Post by **krousseau** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:29 am

It took about 23 days for the Hybrid order to get here. I knew it would take a while-they did not stock it and since they are only ordering one at a time-they are lower priority from the manufacturing/distributer.The big laugh is they always send it next day air. I think it is about 63 mi to the DME and no UPS or FedEx air service exists. I understand it is sort of a generic designation for next day delivery-still funny.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:40 am

my DME said no hybrid soon. said they have to wait until the rep comes in and gives them a demo. but i can order from cpap.com and submit to insurance.

can you try another dme? usually there are a list of suppliers you can get, with a little pushing, from either the sleep lab or the insurance company.

Caroline

chdurie2 · Post by **chdurie2** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:42 am

the above guest was me.

Caroline

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:47 am

Caroline, If you don't mind sharing, what is the name of the DME that told you "no hybrid until the rep does the demo"?

bdp522 · Post by **bdp522** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:03 am

Caroline,
PM me with your e-mail and I can give you a name and # to help resolve this.

Brenda

ladytonya · Post by **ladytonya** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:06 pm

My DME at first said it may take a while to get the Hybrid because he was unfamiliar with the mask. When I called about it a little over a week ago, he had never heard of it! He said that he would order me one but that it would take a while to get there. Apparently, he read up on it and ordered several because he called me last Tuesday and had it in. I couldn't get there until Friday and I know I woulnd't get it any quicker than that in the mail so I had him hold it for me. When I saw him on Friday, I was the second person he had fitted with it and he had ordered more. He said that he was scepticle at first but that he thought it was going to be a good product. He's not on CPAP himself to my knowledge, but I told him that for those of us who breathe through our mouths it looks like a God-send! I am supposed to report back to him after a week and let him know what size pillows and cushion I end up settling on for future re-orders. He called me this morning to check on how it's going and said that he has since fitted another person with it (that's 3 in a week), and that the first one really loves it.

Sidesleeper · Post by **Sidesleeper** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:48 pm

You can always get a script and order from http://www.billmyinsurance.com . It would be a lot faster than a 3 week wait.

idahogal · Post by **idahogal** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:30 pm

I can see how all of this can come into play. I know that it takes time to get through all the red tape but here is the kicker....when I first went in to talk to them about switching providers they had the hybrid....two days later when I got all the insurance wrinkles ironed out...boom...no hybrid and I have been waiting ever since. It sounds almost as if the sales guy that provides the mask is not doing things on his end...so here I sit waiting for MY hybrid..

chdurie2 · Post by **chdurie2** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:37 pm

or maybe when you're thinking of leaving them, they'll get you what you want, but now that you're staying, why bother?

on a less personal note, we immediately reacted because mike moran and others have given it a good review that we read instantly. but to the dmes and the sleep labs, it's oh, yawn, another mask, yawn, by a company we're not set up to deal with. yawn,yawn.

Caroline

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:16 pm

Wow! It is such a bummer to hear that some health professionals out there do not take their work more seriously.

I first found out about the Hybrid here on this site and called up the techs over at my sleep clinic to see if they could get one for me to try. That was less than two weeks ago and today they called me to let me know it was in. When I went to pick it up they said it was a free demo and that I did not have to trade in my Swift out for it because they were simply passing on the Hybrid mask to me for free. I feel quite lucky to have such kind folks working at the sleep clinic where I was diagnosed with OSA about a month ago.

Sounds like a change in health professionals is in order for some of you.

"Life is like a candle and dreams must give it flame"

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): swift

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): swift

maskjkie · Post by **maskjkie** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 4:55 am

DreamStalker wrote:Wow! It is such a bummer to hear that some health professionals out there do not take their work more seriously.

I first found out about the Hybrid here on this site and called up the techs over at my sleep clinic to see if they could get one for me to try. That was less than two weeks ago and today they called me to let me know it was in. When I went to pick it up they said it was a free demo and that I did not have to trade in my Swift out for it because they were simply passing on the Hybrid mask to me for free. I feel quite lucky to have such kind folks working at the sleep clinic where I was diagnosed with OSA about a month ago.

Dreamstalker,

I'm happy for you. But sleep clinics are not supposed to hand out free samples and most won't. Sometimes they will give a sample to the patient if the DME promises to replace it in a short period of time but that happens rarely. I work in a sleep clinic, so I know all this. The samples that manufacturers provide to the sleep clinics are meant to be used for titrating patients. My clinic gets mask samples only once every 3-4 months from all the manufacturers. So, if I were to give it away to someone, I will have one less mask to titrate with until I get a new batch of samples 3 months later and several patients will be affected because I will have to say "no" to a patient practically every night if all the remaining masks are being used on other patients. For a hot product like the Hybrid, this has been the case already although we gave nothing away. I have requested additional samples last week from Teleflex (1 for each bed in my clinic) and they are supposed to come this week.

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:12 am

Sleep Clinics - Jeeze, they have the balls to charge me $3470.00 for
50 minutes of sleep, and they don't even have to pay for the mask. What a
racket. I've had Cardio-Inversions for less than that.

Sorry Junkie, but this is the way it looks from my perspective. How much do you charge for a six hour session?

Mask

Additional Comments: cpap pressure: 12

Mask

Additional Comments: Large mask collection

Mask

Additional Comments: Pressure setting: 9, EPR set at 2

Mask

Additional Comments: cpap pressure: 12