SleepyHead Removes Data

[awritersmind1]

So Sleepyhead entirely removes the data from the card? Is there a way to have it not do that? I had my follow up today, which was frustrating enough as it is, and then all the data was gone and they won't accept sleepyhead info.

[Pugsy]

SleepyHead does NOT do anything to the data on the SD card. Zero way for it to affect the SD card.
SleepyHead has no way to affect the SD card contents. It just can't happen. Nothing in the software will do that.

Even if it did...the machine stores data on the machine. Enough data to satisfy DME needs. All one needs to do is insert a blank SD card into the machine and it will write the data to the SD card.

Did you check to see if the SD card was blank or did they just tell you that they couldn't get it to work with their software?
I am betting they just couldn't use their own software.
Now DMEs use Encore Pro and Encore Pro has a setting that is often used prior to downloading data to "erase card contents" ..the other choice is "card is to be returned to the patient"...if the card is blank..they did it.

Sounds like someone at the DME office doesn't know what they are doing...big surprise there.

[Pugsy]

Wanted to add...I can get you Encore software and you can use it to produce the reports that are needed.
You can for sure put a blank SD card in the machine and the machine will write enough of the stored data to satisfy any DME or insurance requirements.
Don't tell them where you got the software but the reports are exactly what they would get if they knew how to use their own software. They will have a fit if they know you have the software.
Give me a minute and I will send you a private message about the software.

[awritersmind1]

The guy at the office tried different things to get it to work. Was there for 2 hours... I just looked at the card and yeah, everything is gone now. I hadn't looked prior to see what was happening. They want all the weeks data when I go back in 5 weeks, hoping I will have a working machine by then. Apparently it may not be going into auto mode and adjusting the pressure. They have a head guy there that was using this meter thing to test it and he wouldn't breathe through it and it wouldn't adjust. I had changed my pressure to 8 myself and did much better for the past 2 nights.

Will Encore delete the data from the card if I don't hit the era card contents?

Hey, the lady popooed the sleepy head thing. I thought, well hey, at least it worked... Sigh, I just can't get people to listen to me. She kept insisting that it's probably perception and all this crap, and I'm insisting the machine is not working right. Seems I might be right. I hope so...

[Pugsy]

Encore has a very obvious choice available prior to download
"erase card contents" or "return card to patient"...check marks go in the appropriate box.

You don't happen to have one of the heated hose machines do you? Those machines use only the latest Encore and DME might not have it.

Anyway...put the SD card in the machine...the stored data will go right back on the SD card. Some is lost but not much and only the high definition flow graphs...which they probably don't know what to do with anyway.
All the other stuff is stored on the machine for quite a long time (long enough to cover your recent use).

Then use the software that I sent you the link for. It will produce the exact same reports they screwed up.
It will work exactly like I said. There will be data available on the machine.

[awritersmind1]

Ok thanks!

I was asking them about the clear airway apneas and they didn't know what that was or meant and she wouldn't listen to me about them showing up. She insisted it's the software...

[Pugsy]

She insisted it's the software...

She obviously doesn't know her stuff...another big surprise.
BTW Respironics software engineers are aware of SleepyHead. I had one tell me that they were. They think it is quite good...of course not quite as good as Encore (per them which is understandable). DMEs don't know their butts from a hole in the ground sometimes. They aren't going to know SleepyHead and for sure won't trust it.

[Pugsy]

Just got a quick note from OP before she went to work.
She now has her reports using Encore. So the machine did put the data back on the SD card.
Now she just gets to show the DME that she can do a better job with their software than they can.

I suspect the default setting in their Pro version (unknown version) to "erase the card after download is complete" did erase the card but for some reason the download did not transfer the files. Dumb a@@ way of doing things...erase before you can confirm the transfer worked. Maybe their Pro version isn't compatible with this particular machine model..who knows.
Maybe just a less than stellar IQ person handling the DME software.

Bottom line..the data is there for viewing. Makes me sure wonder about ability to understand what they see if they can't even use their own software correctly.

[archangle]

So Sleepyhead entirely removes the data from the card? Is there a way to have it not do that? I had my follow up today, which was frustrating enough as it is, and then all the data was gone and they won't accept sleepyhead info.

SleepyHead did not erase your data.

The DME probably screwed up and erased your data. That's very easy to do with the official Respironics software.

I've been using SleepyHead for a long time now. It doesn't have an option to erase the data. It never has erased the data when I've used it. Only a hardware/software failure or deliberately erasing the files with windows would cause this.

I copied my card from my PRS1 Auto card to my hard drive on 2/26/2012, and it still had data from 10/29/2011. That one SD card had been read by SleepyHead probably 20 or 30 times in that time period. I've used SH a lot longer than that and have never seen any data get accidentally erased by SH or my computer. That just happens to be the data I have on hand.

The PRS1 machine has a phone in compliance code. No SD card needed. You read the number off the PRS1 display with therapy hours, blower hours, days>4, and compliance check number , and phone it in and the DME can document your compliance that way. There is a "compliance check" number that prevents you from faking it, so it proves the numbers are valid. He enters the data into encore pro, and it tells him the checksum is correct, and the data is valid.

Turn the PRS1 knob to "Info", go to "phone in", write down the numbers off the screen. Be sure Days>4 is high enough to qualify, and call the DME. The DME goes into Encore Pro 2. From the menu where he downloads data, select Therapy data, record phoned in compliance, enter the data, including compliance check number, and it will verify that the numbers are valid.

Hey, the lady popooed the sleepy head thing. I thought, well hey, at least it worked... Sigh, I just can't get people to listen to me. She kept insisting that it's probably perception and all this crap, and I'm insisting the machine is not working right. Seems I might be right. I hope so...

Expert advice from the lady who accidentally erased your therapy data.

In the future, copy your P-Series folder from the SD card to your PC hard drive whenever you use SH. Create a folder with todays date, for instance, 120615, and put P-series in there. With that folder, you can recreate the SD card if need be. You can also copy the directory and have a spare SD card when you go to the DME. SH will also read the file off your hard drive if you lose the SD card.

By the way, SD cards can be temperamental. Sometimes, one card will work on one machine and not another, etc.

[pats]

SleepyHead does NOT do anything to the data on the SD card. Zero way for it to affect the SD card.
SleepyHead has no way to affect the SD card contents. It just can't happen. Nothing in the software will do that.

Although I've looked at the SleepyHead source code, and agree that it does not modify the card, I'm a believer in Murphy's Law, so I take the precaution of locking my SD card whenever I take it out of the APAP, and unlocking it again when I put it back in. That way, nothing other than the APAP gets to write to the card.

I also regularly copy the contents of the card to an area on my computer that is being backed up by Carbonite.

[ekubaskie]

If you don't put the card in correctly (crooked, too slowly, with the moon in Gemini), Windows will decide it needs formatting and ask if you want to do so. You can say no, but you can't just leave it in there and then read the data. You have to pull it out & put it back in. There's where I bet the DME was clueless.

Meanwhile, whenever I pull the card from the machine, I push the little tab to "Lock", and it stays there until ready to go back in my BiPAP unit. A simple piece of insurance given how easy it is to click the mouse before you really read the prompt!

[archangle]

Meanwhile, whenever I pull the card from the machine, I push the little tab to "Lock", and it stays there until ready to go back in my BiPAP unit. A simple piece of insurance given how easy it is to click the mouse before you really read the prompt!

I don't normally bother when using the card myself, but the lock tab would probably be an extra good idea before giving it to a DME.

[ekubaskie]

Wait a minute, this brings up a question - is there no other information stored on the SD card? Is it OK to take my new Wifi card and just pop it in there blank rather than to copy the data file from my existing card?

[Pugsy]

Wait a minute, this brings up a question - is there no other information stored on the SD card? Is it OK to take my new Wifi card and just pop it in there blank rather than to copy the data file from my existing card?

Your existing SD card contains wave form (flow graph data...the zipper looking graph right below the event graphs) files that are NOT stored on the computer. These are the files with the.005 file type name.

So the machine would write to the Wifi card the data that is stored in the machine. It will not be as complete as the data that is stored on the existing SD card. The machine stored data is quite sufficient for DME needs but it may not suit your needs. But then you have all the other prior wave form data already in the software so it might not matter because you will be using the Wifi card for only new data...unless I misunderstood your use plan..which is entirely possible.

[archangle]

Wait a minute, this brings up a question - is there no other information stored on the SD card? Is it OK to take my new Wifi card and just pop it in there blank rather than to copy the data file from my existing card?

Only the compliance data and a few other data points will be copied to the new card. You won't get any of the old airflow data, for instance. You should get all the data for future sessions.