Why is it so flippin hard to get a simple copy of my Rx?

Tasmania · Post by **Tasmania** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 4:39 pm

Just called my sleep doc to get a copy of my prescription. The lady that answered the phone was very polite and friendly when I explained what I wanted. So I finally let myself feel a glimmer of hope that this will go smoothly. Then she goes to get my chart and comes back to the phone saying there is no actual prescription... just the request for authorization for the equipment I have. Now... maybe somewhere in what's in the chart is what I need.... but my hopes are crashing and burning. I tell her to send a copy of what she has... which she readily agrees to do... but... somehow... I don't think it's going to help.

Why is it so stinking difficult for sleep docs to let the patient have some control over their own treatment? All I want is a simple piece of paper with his name and physician number and all that jazz with a prescription for CPAP clearly spelled out and signed... Is that so bloody difficult?

OK... so I've ranted now...

BTW... does the prescription have to be written by a sleep specialist? My primary physician (who referred me to the sleep doc in the first place) has a copy of the sleep study results and I know she reviewed and understood them because she talked to me about it. Can she write the prescription? Nothing against my sleep guy... honestly I do like him... but my primary is a lot easier to talk to and explain things to overall... and she usually will give me what I want so long as it is medically sound.

I want to be able to buy an APAP machine with full data capability. I have already decided it's a lost cause to ask insurance to pay for it so I figure I'll keep the "dumb" machine rented/bought by the insurance company as a backup and travel machine. But for regular use at home I want a "smart" machine so I can better track what is really going on and finally figure out what makes the difference between the days I wake up feeling pretty good and the days I feel like crap since the reasons usually aren't obvious to me. And maybe I can eventually fine tune my way to that elusive "perfect" nights sleep.

Gerald · Post by **Gerald** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 4:51 pm

Call CPAP.com and ask them to help you write your own prescription. Once it's written....and you have it "just right", carry it to your doctor and ask him to give you a script worded the same way. If he won't, change doctors.

I handed my doctor the exact copy of what i wanted....and he wrote it exactly the way I wanted it.

You can do it.....Don't take "no" for an answer. Tell the doctor exactly what you want....don't be "submissive"......act as if it is a foregone conclusion that he'll do it for you.

sleepycarol · Post by **sleepycarol** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:29 pm

My regular doctor wrote my script and I went and got my equipment -- which is a long story that is on another thread. My doctor is wonderful to work with so start there.

By the way, my sleep doctor contacted another DME and they called today and wanted to bring out my equipment and I told them I had already had the script filled from my regular doctor. It has been a month since my last sleep study with a machine. Glad I didn't wait!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:30 pm

I actually have two written prescriptions. I had asked for the first one from the sleep study. They were reluctant to send it to me. At the time, I was changing jobs and changing insurance.

I had one final appointment with my neurologist who was not involved with the apnea issue, but another surgery issue.

When I told her how much trouble I was having trying to get a prescription so I could purchase my own machine, she stepped outside, had her assistant get a faxed copy of my sleep study results from the sleep clinic. (She sends patients to the same sleep clinic) She immediately read them and wrote me a prescription on her pad for me to take with me. About two months later, the one from the sleep lab doctor finally came in the mail.

I love that I only had to fax it to cpap.com once and it's good for life! I never need to worry about that again.

tillymarigold · Post by **tillymarigold** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:06 pm

My sleep doctor called me and said "Okay, I'm mailing you a prescription" without my even asking, then I said I was thinking of getting an auto and he said "Okay, I'll mail you two prescriptions then, one for straight CPAP and one for the auto."

RosemaryB · Post by **RosemaryB** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:09 pm

Unless you have a very good sleep doc who's easy to reach, you might as well just have your GP do the script. Unless you had a lot of centrals or need a very high pressure, it's not difficult. The titration study tells the story of what pressure you need. My GP wrote my script for an autotitrating machine. This is a very disorganized field from what I can tell. It's ridiculous to have to wait a whole month to get the script from a sleep doctor.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:17 pm

How did you get the equipment that's in your profile? Did your doctor fax an Rx to a DME? SOMEBODY should have the original or a copy.....

I'm quite sure that my sleep doctor doesn't have a copy of mine, either. I basically took the original he wrote.....from his hand.....and walked out the door. And I still have it.

Den

tangents · Post by **tangents** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:53 am

Den,

I think there are some sleep doctors that have never written a single Rx for CPAP. They "stock" the machines and masks at their office, and kindly "dispense" them to their patients (thereby saving them the "hassle" of finding their own equipment...). I had to argue with my sleep doctor for a written order for CPAP. I think he only gave it to me to shut me up. (Didn't work )

All the Rx needs to say is CPAP. From there you can buy any CPAP or APAP you want, and set it yourself to your titration pressure. The Rx is good for life, as far as I know.

Good luck,
Cathy

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:07 am

You might be surprised at how quick a response you get to a WRITTEN request for anything in your medical records and the data from your sleep evaluation, from your titration study AND the "order" for your equipment are a part of your medical records. This is especially true if you send your WRITTEN request via Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested so that you have PROOF of your WRITTEN request and their RECEIPT of that written request. (Assuming you are in the US).

jjposey · Post by **jjposey** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:48 am

When I asked for my prescription I was also told they didn't really have one.
They faxed me what they sent the DME.
A copy of some sort of info sheet with my name, address and insurance info. At the bottom was scribbled something like...
CPAP
Profile Lite Petite
16

I just thought that was REAL professional.
Don't ya'll agree?
Glad to know it's not all that unusual.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:56 am

tangents wrote:Den,

I think there are some sleep doctors that have never written a single Rx for CPAP. They "stock" the machines and masks at their office, and kindly "dispense" them to their patients (thereby saving them the "hassle" of finding their own equipment...). I had to argue with my sleep doctor for a written order for CPAP. I think he only gave it to me to shut me up. (Didn't work )

All the Rx needs to say is CPAP. From there you can buy any CPAP or APAP you want, and set it yourself to your titration pressure. The Rx is good for life, as far as I know.

Good luck,
Cathy

That's the part that would scare the Hell out of me.
The prescription is good for life (yours)......and there's no guarantee that your sleep doctor (physcian) is going to be around longer than you are.
Also, being a "slave" to HIS sales and service is definitely not a good thing, either. What if you're out of town and some of your equipment breaks down......you won't be able to purchase ANYTHING (machine/mask) from another local DME without one.
People move, too. You may move or your doctor may leave town.

Send them a letter via Certified Mail as Slinky suggested.

Den

tillymarigold · Post by **tillymarigold** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:02 am

Wulfman... wrote:The prescription is good for life (yours)......and there's no guarantee that your sleep doctor (physcian) is going to be around longer than you are.

I just wanted to point out that this is debatable. There certainly are a great many DMEs who interpret the law about CPAP prescriptions the same way they interpret the law about other prescriptions and will not fill a CPAP prescription that is more than a year old.

My understanding of the law (no, I don't have a cite) is that it doesn't explicitly say that CPAP prescriptions expire, however there is another section that says that prescriptions in general expire after a year. I know that all medication prescriptions and all eyeglass/contact lens prescriptions expire after a year, as did the prescription for the last non-SDB durable medical equipment I had to buy (an elbow brace for cubital tunnel syndrome).

Frankly, I think it's a bad idea to have any prescription not expire, although I'd think the time period on a CPAP prescription could safely be longer, like 5 years or so.

Other than that, I agree with the rest of your post. Just wanted to point out that just because CPAP.com interprets the law to mean CPAP prescriptions are good for life, doesn't mean they're correct (nor does it mean they're wrong). It just means that no one has yet clarified the law on the subject so neither places like CPAP.com, nor other DMEs that require a script that's less than a year old, have yet been definitively proven correct or not.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:14 am

Yeah.....it would be good to know the specifics on the prescriptions. I DOUBT that if you went into a DME office a couple of years later, that they'd turn down a sale. By the same token, how many local DMEs require their customers to get their prescriptions updated every year or two or three?

I was thinking of CPAP.COM because that's the ONLY DME I've used.

The thing about some other prescriptions....(like for pills)....when you're OUT, your're OUT and the pharmacy won't refill it unless they get a new one.

Den

tillymarigold · Post by **tillymarigold** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:22 am

Wulfman... wrote:I DOUBT that if you went into a DME office a couple of years later, that they'd turn down a sale.

People here and on other forums have complained about exactly that, actually. I've seen lots of variations of "My machine broke but the DME won't sell me one without a new prescription and I can't get an appointment for 3 months/my insurance won't pay for a new sleep study."

Wulfman... wrote:The thing about some other prescriptions....(like for pills)....when you're OUT, your're OUT and the pharmacy won't refill it unless they get a new one.

Doesn't apply to other things, though, like my arm brace or my eyeglasses. My eyeglasses are actually three years old; I do actually have a new prescription but I haven't filled it because my current glasses still work. I only got the new script (which is the exact same script as the old glasses) because I knew that if my glasses break or if I just want a new pair, I have to have a script that's less than a year old to get them.

oceanpearl · Post by **oceanpearl** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:28 am

In the state of Virginia NO prescription is good for a day over 2 years!