wilford brimley

[Blackneto]

Wilford Brimley said something interesting in his pitch for liberty medical. I have the feeling that liberty medical are con artists of some sort, but what he said made good sense.

Get involved with a good doctor.
Find out some things about diabetes and your own body in the bargain.
learn to check your own blood sugar.

Correct me if i'm wrong but these things translate well into xPAP treatment don't they?

I wonder what the % of people is that don't get involved with their xPAP treatment and just give up.

I really think the lady at my DME wants to help but I think she's constrained by custom and making a buck.
For instance when i had a problem with my pressure setting as ordered by the Doc, all she could say is "just try to use it"
I don't know if she didn't know what to tell me, if she was constrained by liability concerns, hidebound to the system or what.
But she really seems to care and make sure that people are comfortable.
She even runs a clinic on Wednesday's as an open forum for customers with problems with their treatments to get help. (I really need to get to that sometime this month)

anyway just another random thought by me.

[Wulfman]

Properly dealing with Diabetes (regardless of which type they have) requires that the person become involved with their own testing and adjusting (medications and food). There are probably a good deal of diabetics that just take their Metformin/Glucophage and go on eating what they want. You could probably compare them to those XPAP users that use their equipment and don't really know how they're doing......until they have another doctor's appointment or sleep study.

The diabetes patient/XPAP user comparison has been used extensively on the forums as the argument for more user-involved therapy.
According to some studies (a number of years ago), the failure rate of XPAP users is about 50%. And, based on the number of users who don't really get involved with their therapy.......you gotta wonder about how "successful" the other 50% is. What we see on the forums (with regard to those of us who ARE involved with our therapy) is just a drop in a very large bucket.

It's always been puzzling to me how doctors (sometimes the same ones) can say that the patient has to be involved with their diabetes treatment/therapy and not with their XPAP treatment/therapy.

Den

PS. Wilford Brimley actually lives in this area.

[OldLincoln]

Wilford Brimley said something interesting in his pitch for liberty medical. I have the feeling that liberty medical are con artists of some sort, but what he said made good sense.

I would hate to think Wilford Brimley would be part of anything even a bit shady. Not saying it can't happen, but I like him. His show "Our House" came at a good time for our family and it's probably the first we all wanted to see together. If you've seen it you might get it, if not you missed out. Each episode was good, but much better in the series context starting out with the first episode.

He has had an interesting been-there-done-that career. I get a bit sad seeing him age, but then I don't linger in front of mirrors these days myself. I'll miss him some sad day.

[Strapparatus]

According to some studies (a number of years ago), the failure rate of XPAP users is about 50%. And, based on the number of users who don't really get involved with their therapy.......you gotta wonder about how "successful" the other 50% is. What we see on the forums (with regard to those of us who ARE involved with our therapy) is just a drop in a very large bucket.

Check out these stats:
Drowsy Driving (National Sleep Foundation) - More than 100,000 police reported accidents
- 71,000 injuries
- 1550 deaths per year
OSA related car crashes cost 15.9 billion in 2000.
If 70% had adhered to CPAP therapy at a cost of 3.2 billion annually the savings would equal $11 billion annually.
Extracted from AARC (American Association Respiratory Care) Sleep Specialty Section
"The Evidence for Nasal CPAP" by Nick MacMillan

[Volcanomom]

Have you guys seen that liberty medical is starting to run commericals for getting your cpap supplies at home, just like the commercials they do for diabetes supplies?

[Nodzy]

Many times over many years, doctors have lambasted me softly or roughly for knowing too much about my body and the med's and nutrients I put into it. Most doc's and med-types I've encountered proved to be a tad on the blissfully arrogant side of reality. My strategy is... trust every doc and med-type with similar skepticism that I would exercise with a stranger who asked for my bank account numbers and passcodes.

It's your body, your life... and your suffering. You are, or can be, your own best advocate and protecter. Get busy and do what's best for you... is how I see it.

Nodzy (with his pocket-size, fold-out, George Jetson style, soapbox/podium)

[OldLincoln]

According to some studies (a number of years ago), the failure rate of XPAP users is about 50%.... If 70% had adhered to CPAP therapy at a cost of 3.2 billion annually the savings would equal $11 billion annually.

Funny how the studies for single level CPAP show 50% and similar studies for APAP show compliance currently at the 70% you mention. While insurance companies including Medicare will pay the same rate for APAP as they do CPAP, DME's have to make up the difference and thus the resistance.

Among the piles of Medicare stuff I pulled down yesterday was a statement that Medicare hasn't yet decided on an additional HCPCS code for APAP that will pay better and the implication is that they will continue to review it. Since they are caught up in the budget deficit reduction act the odds of it happening anytime soon is pretty slim. When it does happen, and only then, will APAP become the standard machine and compliance improve by the degree needed.