Has everyone gone insane? CPAP Monitoring/Modems & SD Cards?

[Lizistired]

I think the OSA rate of the Amish community might be quite telling if there was a way to evaluate it.

A few years ago I read a book by this neurosurgeon, Keith Black, after a friend had a brain anyeurysm. Near the end he discussed xray and rf radiation. It really is something worth being informed about and making your own choices. You can't just trust the industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-naATQX5Jo4

[jmmass]

It sounds like some, I guess they are called "DME"s have different uses for modem. They do not adjust mine at all; just monitor so they will get paid. It is done monthly for 3 months. This is not a cell modem, it is a radio modem. They question is: if the info is recorded on the hard drive, SD card...why the modem? It is fishy and it not being used for what they claim. I am not thinking some weirdo is sitting on the corner of my street with a reciever, I think there is no need for it, they can noy justify why it is needed or put in writing that only they will get info (meaning my doctor, the insurance companies)...they will not put in writing it is not being used,for say, research. I have a right not to participate in research, they have no valid reason for haveing a modem...and it is interfering with my alarm clock and waking me and my preganant wife!!!! I tested it out again, and sure enough, it caused my alarm clock to go mad. You might say...move the alarm clock...why???? This is a freaking replacement CPAP after using a CPAP for 6 years and I have to go through all this crap? For what...do you know how much I pay my insurance company every month?

[Suzjohnson]

What makes you think they are interested in anything other than the number of hours used for however many nights your compliance consists of? I'm certain there is no risk and this seems a lot easier than having to take the data card to the DME to be downloaded, which in my case turned out to be a colossal pain in the tush and took three months to finally get the correct information to my doc. Until everything was cleared up I was being considered non-compliant, which really ticked me off because it wasn't so.

Suz

[JamesW6175]

Look, we have this problem called Sleep Apnea and the manufactures have come up with a way to monitor our progress or lack of progress for the Doctors. I would rather have the ability to have a Doctor receiving this data, than dealing with constant trips back and forth to the Doctors office. If you stop breathing, you can DIE. This data that is being collected probably does not mean anything to anybody else except the Doctor. The data is keyed to some account number for your machine and that has your information in it , and this is the same information that you have already given to your Doctors in the past.

The Banks and Credit card companies have more information on you , than what the machine can send out to your Doctor.

[BlackSpinner]

It sounds like some, I guess they are called "DME"s have different uses for modem. They do not adjust mine at all; just monitor so they will get paid. It is done monthly for 3 months. This is a freaking replacement CPAP after using a CPAP for 6 years and I have to go through all this crap? For what...do you know how much I pay my insurance company every month?

Purely profit motive. If you bring in the card they have to pay someone to load it into the computer. Remove the thing and tell them you will bring in the card but you refuse to have a modem next to your head. If they don't like it you will buy another machine somewhere else.

[chunkyfrog]

Looking at this from another angle:
Treatment of a physical ailment (OSA) should not be at the expense of one's mental health and feeling of safety.
I does not really matter if there IS scientific proof that the transmitter is harmless;
there will still be people who experience anxiety due to its presence.
As long as the memory card can be used, there should be no excuse to use the transmitter
except for the convenience of the PATIENT.
Its use should be voluntary, especially where anxiety exists over it.

[jmmass]

I am going to write what I truly think: many people replying here are complete idiots. You really think that the doctors give a rats ass about the results and that this is for your convience? You are complete morons. You have an illness. The answerr is treatment. The insurance company does not want to pay; so they will make it as difficult as possible.

Facts:

1. I have been using CPAP for 6 years
2. I needed a replacement device due to wear and tear: this took 4 months with red tape (I can get a new one every 5 years)
3. When I got the device, I was then told I had to show compliance
4. There is a hard drive and a removable drive
5. The wireless modem is interfering with other electrical equiptment (baby monitor, alarm clock) and keeping my preganant wife and myself up
6. My Insurance company, CareCore and Sleep Health Centers all say that none of them require the modem - or even the SD card - the all point to the other person
7. This is catogorized as life-threatening illness: if the doctors really gave a rats ass about monitoring, why did it take 4 months to get a new machine?

Why the hell do I have to go through all this shit? It is all about money and big brother. Next model will have a camera - just to make sure it is you wearing it. This is just the start and it wont stop because a bunch of sheep will just follow the sheppard without question. Idiots.

[lorraineg57]

I would love nothing more than to have an app on my iPhone and iPad where I can just open the app and see all my data like AHI, leaks, etc.. I get tired of pulling the SD card out of the machine every day and putting it in my computer then having to remember to put it back in the xPAP machine before bed. I want a more technology in my machine. It's 2012! Is there an app for that? They have refrigerators that text you when you need milk, dryers that text you when your clothes are done, cars that call you when you need an oil change, why cant I have an APAP machine that texts me when my AHI was over 3 or my leaks were over x%?

Agreed, that'd be awesome! Then I wouldn't have to worry about my compliance because I forgot to put the card back in (which I've done a few times).

[archangle]

This is not a cell modem, it is a radio modem.

Cell phones are radios. The modem you have works on the cell phone frequencies and talks to the cell phone towers just like a smart phone. It's basically a smart cell phone without the speaker and microphone. Think of it as an iPhone in a box with a CPAP adapter.

[chunkyfrog]

True, Arch, but you cannot always dispel a phobia with logic.
The brain is integral to the health of the body as a whole, even when it clings to uncommon and unprovable beliefs.
When we can't fix what we perceive as wrongheadedness; we must work around it in the spirit of compassion.

[morrigan]

As of October, my insurance company (Anthem PPO) now requires that I send in compliance data every time I order supplies (nasal pillows, headgear, etc). Right now I have a FP Sleepstyle and can send in a card, but I dont see that I will have much choice in accepting or denying a modem-capable machine when the time comes for me to get a new machine.

Well, unless I want to pay for all my supplies out of pocket as Anthem will not reimburse online purchases.

If anyone else has better info on the new Anthem rules, I am all ears...

[Julie]

I've heard it all now! Who in their right mind would want to order all that stuff unless they were using it all the time, had to use it or possibly die? The system there (and maybe here) is definitely off the rails.

[chunkyfrog]

There is precious little trust, and the cruel game they play only results in more and more fraud.

[johnthomasmacdonald]

I blame it on Obama since everything is his fault

[JeffL]

I blame it on Obama since everything is his fault

Yeah, That new rule is on page 15,291 of the Affordable Health Care Act bill.