dang those suppliers

[sleepyjan]

Went to supplier yesterday after complaining about bloody bruised upper lip and requesting new mask ...took them 2 weeks to get me another nasal mask...after I requested a full face mask.......showed them the cpap.com download on my Remstar autoflex A ....it comes with smartcard and all manuals.......was told I can't have a smartcard because therapist can "read" my machine if I need help...I asked how to monitor myself without one and was told that's the therapists job......GRRRRRR.....They did "give" me a Fulllife full face kit to use .......AFTER I showed them my bruised , swollen upper lip ...NOW.how do I go about getting my own danged smartcard and equipment to read it?.......I figure I'm the one using it, it's my health, I NEED to know what's going on, how it's working etc.......was also informed I can't get a full manual because then I could learn how to adjust my own settings ....another GRRRRR......P>S> the respiratory therapist only works there part time and I haven't seen or heard from her since my initial visit to get my breather!

[rosacer]

Sleepyjan

I'm very sorry. I hope somebody in the forum will be able to help you to find the way to read your data, sadly I don't know how to proceed.

This is terrible how some times we are let by our selves and without any help. It demands a lot of energy to fight agains this system, who is supposed to be taking care of us the patients. It's the same here, healt system is overloaded and privated companies are not the most eager to help.

Keep asking, don't take a no as answer.

Rosie

[Hawthorne]

You can buy a smart card, Encore Viewer software, and a card reader from cpap.com. There are cheaper places online to buy the card reader. Check out the card reader for your machine at cpap.com and do a search if you want to spend less for the card reader. It has to be that particular card reader though.

With this you can monitor your own therapy.

If you PM me your email address, I can send you the Clinician's setup guide for that machine so that you can change the settings.

What I have said is based on your profile, showing the Remstar M Series Auto with A-Flex as the machine you have.

There is a newer one out from Respironics (Philips Respironics) and it does not have software available for patients, gererally, for the newer machine.

I just want to be sure which machine you have since there is a lot of confusion these days with the machines all be called something similar!

[Wulfman]

NEVER....EVER.....relinquish YOUR card to the DMEs!!!
It's YOUR machine.....right?
It's YOUR card..........right?
It's YOUR therapy......right?

If they think they need to download your data, do it yourself and give them a copy of it (or fax/e-mail it to them).


Den

[kteague]

Well, how are THEY going to read your card if THEY didn't supply one with the machine?

[LinkC]

That was MY first thought! Without a card to read, ain't nobody reading nuttin'!

Also, sleepyjan, cpap.com has a price-matching policy if you find a cheaper price on ANY of what you need. Since they host this free board, it's nice to throw a little business their way, when possible...

Thirdly, it's quite normal for them to NOT provide the clinician's (setup) manual. However, they are readily available online for just about any machine you have. http://www.apneaboard.com/CPAP%20Adjustment.htm

[JohnBFisher]

... how do I go about getting my own danged smartcard and equipment to read it? ...

IF you have an M Series Auto CPAP, then you can purchase EncoreViewer and the SmartCard reader at:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage-bundle.php?BundleID=64

Does your CPAP look like the M Series CPAP? :

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/2486

If note, you may have the more current Respironics PR System One Auto CPAP:

https://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/respi ... -flex.html

Why do I question you about which one? Well, if you have the PR Systems One unit, it uses a plain old SD memory card (like you can find at any old store). You probably want at least a 1GB SD memory card. You can stick in any SD card reader (often found on most current computers). That way in addition to an inexepensive SD memory card, all you would need is the EncoreViewer software:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... e-1.0.html

That's obviously a cheaper solution. A note about that SD memory card. Don't go too cheap. Remember your unit will write to it a LOT. You want a reliable brand that will hold up to a lot of wear and tear.

But if you have an M Series unit, you will need a SmartCard:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... -card.html

Plus a note. Not all the M Series units shipped with a SmartCard module. Before you purchase any of this, be certain your unit has one! You can purchase them, though they are a little more expensive. However, they are more reasonably priced than the ResMed ResLink units:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/m-seri ... odule.html

And I definitely agree with Den on this:

It's YOUR machine.....right?
It's YOUR card..........right?
It's YOUR therapy......right?

That's especially true if you (or your insurance company for you) purchased the unit. You need to be polite, but firm on this.

Hope that helps.

[Hawthorne]

Encore Viewer (the cpap.com page that JohnBFisher put a link to) will NOT work with a PR SYstem One Remstar machine (Pro or Auto). It will only work with an M Series Remstar (Pro or Auto) and the older "classic" Remstars (Pro 2 or Auto).

If you have PR Sysem One Remstar, the software for that is not readily available to cpap users yet.

Be sure you know which machine you have before you spend money on software or cards!

[JohnBFisher]

... EncoreViewer (the cpap.com page that JohnBFisher put a link to) will NOT work with a PR SYstem One Remstar ...

Oh, thank you for catching that! That one slipped my mind. A new version should be out soon, but no point in paying for it twice. Thanks!