I won the PRO battle! (but not the war...)

[LinkC]

Oh My GOD!!! Went to pick up my shiney new M-Series Auto only to find them trying to bait-and-switch a ResMed Vpap something or other. Now I'm sure that's a fine machine, BUT I'm also sure my new card reader and Encore Pro would be worthless.

My salvation is that the prescription (which I dictated) clearly states "A-flex". And I pointed that out, asking if the ResMed had it. (I know full well that term is a Respironics trademark!)

It was hard to keep a straight face as I had flashbacks of Rooster's "Yes, it is! No, it isn't!" litany above.

Bottom line: M-series Auto w/A-flex is on "special order", ETA next Tue/Wed.

God, I'm starting to hate one-horse towns with only one DuMmiE available! Sheesh!

[GumbyCT]

You better go to Debjax's DME.

[roster]

My DuMmiE just called and my machine is in. I'll pick it up after work. (Guess they are tired of delivering the WRONG equipment to my house...)

I'm a little leery about going after Rooster's prediction above...

but looking forward to seeing some numbers tomorrow!!!

Betcha they try to give you one of the old wooden hand crank models.

[danw61]

... trying to bait-and-switch a ResMed Vpap something or other...

I don't know the different machines very well, but isn't a Vpap a BiPAP?? How can they give him a BiPAP with a prescription for an autopap. And why would they want to? A biPap should be more expensive?
I'm confused

Dan

[GumbyCT]

I don't know the different machines very well, but isn't a Vpap a BiPAP?? How can they give him a BiPAP with a prescription for an autopap. And why would they want to? A biPap should be more expensive?
I'm confused
Dan

Good point....my guess is it must be a used machine?

Did you ever get your prescription "in your hand"?

[LinkC]

Yes. 'Script in hand! (What I had dictated was "M-series Auto with A-flex". Script says "Auto CPAP with A-flex.) Thank God for trademarks!

The ResMed came out of the original box and still had stickers on it. May have been a demo or something. Dunno if box was sealed. I was busy reading the fine print in my 'script!

Looking at the ResMed site, I think you are right. The Vpap IS bi-level. (Not that it surprises me!) It looked just like the VPAP Auto.

When she said the M-series Auto A-flex is a "special order" machine I said that surprises me because most everyone I know has it. She said, well, the A-flex is a top-line item. *I* said "I want top-line when my health is at stake."

[LinkC]

Betcha they try to give you one of the old wooden hand crank models.

You have an uncanny ability to postdict the past!

BTW, you (cleverly disguised as a chicken) may be walking to an observer's left...but it's YOUR right!

[danw61]

I wonder if the DME tried to give you a BiPap so that they could bill the insurance company more. (I understand a Bipap is a different billing code.) That might have been a problem for you if insurance refused to pay because you didn't need a BiPap.

[LinkC]

Past experience with them points to ignorance, not deceit.

But you have a point (actually TWO!) They could have billed more...and my insurance probably WOULD notice the disconnect.

Anyway...it's another week without numbers for me! But I do have a rare Plus w/Smartcard model to keep me company.

[rested gal]

I don't know the different machines very well, but isn't a Vpap a BiPAP??

You're exactly right, Dan. "VPAP" is ResMed's trademark name for their "bilevel" machine. "BiPAP" is Respironics' trademark name for their bilevel machine.

A side note... the word "bipap" often is used as a generic term for a bilevel machine... for any manufacturer's bilevel machine. Kind'a like calling any lip balm "chapstick", or any facial tissue "kleenex."

How can they give him a BiPAP with a prescription for an autopap.

They shouldn't have. "Bilevel" is definitely not what the doctor's prescription called for.

And why would they want to? A biPap should be more expensive?

I think this is the most likely reason they ordered the wrong brand AND model machine:

Past experience with them points to ignorance, not deceit.

Or -- maybe there is someone else who was supposed to have been the recipient of the VPAP that they tried to give to LinkC. Someone who doesn't know anything about machines, accepted what was given to him/her, and is using Link's Auto with A-flex as we speak (type!!) If that's happened, wonder what settings the DME dialed in?

Also wonder what settings they'd have put into the VPAP for Link, if he hadn't explained to them it was not the machine the Rx called for. In hindsight, you should have let them "set it up" for you, Link...that VPAP machine. Wonder if the DME would have scratched his/her head and stopped at any point, or just plowed on through the menu as if they knew what they were doing.

[LinkC]

In hindsight, you should have let them "set it up" for you, Link...that VPAP machine.

She was programming it while I was frantically looking thru my prescription for a "loophole". I would HOPE she was setting it to CPAP mode at my correct pressure, but we'll never know.

But once I asked her if that machine had A-flex (which the 'script called for) she stopped.

Dang! Now i gotta change my "Equipment" in my siggy back to Pro for a few more days.. sigh.