Actually, I'd like to see my B&M DME perform a mask fitting or read a data card.Guest wrote:Internet retailers just throw stuff in a box and ship to you. Yeah, yeah, they provide phone support. Great. I want to see an internet retailer perform a mask fitting or read a data card. I'd like to see an internet retailer monitor your therapy and periodically check in with you.
See, I found this Forum before I'd even had a sleep test. I was looking for information on emergency power for my CPAPer brother-in-law who was without power in Ohio because of Hurricane Ike. I came back to research when I was scheduled for my own test. And by the time of my titration, I knew enough to call the sleep center and schedule an appointment with their mask specialist so that my titration would be done with a mask at least partially reasonable for me. THAT mask specialist is the only one who ever had me lie down and try the mask under mild pressure.
In fairness, the RRT at the DME helped me get the correct machine for me -- a Bipap Auto SV. This was done after reading my sleep studies and talking to me on the phone -- nothing in person.
Beyond that -- I had to go out and pick up the machine. The mask ordered was the one I found with the help of the sleep center. The next day, I had to call and find out how to turn the alarms on the thing off -- I had no trouble sleeping, but the dozen and one alarms woke me more frequently than the apneas and hypopneas. She walked me through it in the phone. So basically, she and the B&M DME have done nothing that an Internet DME could not do.
When I needed a full face mask because of illness, the B&M had to order it, and it took 5-7 business days to come in. My online DME got one to me within 17 hours of my order.
I don't. However, the B&M DME made it clear that they wouldn't help me get software and card reader -- that came from online. (I was told that the only thing which mattered was how many hours I used it.) The B&M has messed up hose replacements and pillows replacements, making it less of a hassle to pay out of pocket than to use my insurance to cover it.Guest wrote:DMEs aren't perfect - BUT THEN AGAIN...why do people on here think that DMEs are responsible for YOUR health? They're simply not.
If not for this Forum, I would have been a CPAP dropout... because the B&M DME has given me ZERO, ZIP, NADA, in the way of education. And my B&M DME is a large national chain. My insurance won't deal with the small accredited locals.
Because of this on-line Forum, I am an educated Bipap user, with excellent results. I have 24 hour a day, 7 day a week support from experts in using xPAP and in xPAP problem solving. No B&M DME, in my opinion, can match that.
