The absolute worst DME EVER!

rgarito · Post by **rgarito** » Mon May 15, 2006 2:29 pm

I thought I'd post this as a warning to my fellow CPAP users on a DME to avoid, to prevent you guys from going through the hell that I have been going through!

All Med Services of Florida.... Around September of last year, I was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea. I had many of the symptoms (fatigue, tacycardia, high blood pressure, waking up gasping for air, headaches, loud snoring, etc). My doctor wrote me a prescription for a CPAP machine. After doing some research, I found All Med Services of Florida. I contacted them and told them the exact machine I wanted (GoodKnight 420E and H2O humidifier). They had me send them my prescription. They said the machine would be ready in about 4 days for delivery. I gave them a week.

Then, I called them and they had no record that I even existed anywhere in their computers or anywhere! SO, we started over again. (I should've seen this as a big RED FLAG but I gave them the benefit of the doubt).

A week later, still no phone call. I called them again, at which time they informed me that they needed a letter of medical necessity for my insurance. (funny--they never called me to tell me). I contacted my doctor and they sent one within 1 business day (they also faxed me a copy). I waited another week. No phone call.

I called them again and they (after temporarilly losing my account AGAIN for about 30 minutes) determined that I now needed a pre-approval from my insurance. To make sure things went well, I also contacted the insurance company and explained the situation (that I was beginning to have trouble with these people). When they submitted the pre-approval (1 day later) the nice lady at my insurance company even contacted me to let me know it was approved and even faxed the approval letter to me as proof!

2 days go by. I contact All Med again and they tell me they never got the letter. I faxed it to them MYSELF when they told me this (I also called back my insurance and she confirmed that it was sucessfully FAXed!). NOW, they confirm that they have the letter and that they will order the equipment and it should take about a week and they'll call me for delivery.

Another week goes by. Actually, I gave them 2 weeks because I was out-of-town. Another call by me. Yep, they have the equipment and their homecare department would be calling me shortly to deliver the equipment. Fine.

Next day, homecare calls and they deliver THE WRONG EQUIPMENT. Instead of a 420E, they send me the cheap 420G. Instead of a small H2O humidifier, they send me a huge Respironics humidifier. Fed up, and getting really tired of not being able to resolve my medical issues, I go ahead and accept the equipment, knowing that in 2 months, my insurance will be changing and I intend to find a more competent DME at that time.

The equipment works well, my heart rate and blood pressure drops, and I have more energy than I have had in YEARS. But, I also have things like bloating and mask removal going on. (hence, why I wanted an APAP).

4 months later, I get a new DME (I had a little problem with the new insurance). I call All Med and they come and pick up their equipment.

I also notified them that my insurance changed and that they need to submit to my new insurance.

Now, I start getting denial EOB's from my former insurance and nothing from my new insurance. I contact All Med and they confirm that they have my new insurance and they'll resubmit.

Now, May 13, I receive a letter from a COLLECTION AGENCY about $283 that I supposedly owe All Med!!!! All Med Services NEVER SENT ME AN INVOICE. In fact, if they were not going to submit to my new insurance company, I need an invoice to submit the claim myself!

Today, I contact All Med and their billing person says that she is not allowed to speak to me because it has gone to collections!!!!! I informed her that it would NOT have gone to collections if they would have just sent me a bill! We went back and forth several times about this. I asked to speak to her supervisor, but (as usual) he was not in the office. She asked if she could have him call me back. I said "no--I have NEVER received a call back from any employee at your business since this fiasco started. Get me your supervisor's supervisor!" Again, she refused and it went back and forth a few times until she finally got pissed at ME and hung up on me!!!!!

The collection agency is now attempting to get me my invoice and they have promised to not affect my credit. But, they, too, are not doing very well in communicating with me (was supposed to call back in an hour and never did--I called them back and left a message).

I have already filed a complaint with JCAHO (the agency who accredits DME's). (I used to work for a hospital district for 5 years in the IT department, so I'm very well-aware of accreditation and how the complaint process works--went through the re-accreditiation process twice while I was there with 2 different of our hospitals).

My concern is what would happen if I was a geriatric patient or someone who does not know much about my medical needs? These people made things such a mess that I probably would have given up and lived with a potentially life-threatening disease! Companies like All Med should be put out of business before they kill someone with their incompetence!!!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 15, 2006 4:47 pm

How about filing with the State Attorney General's office and maybe the Dept of Health and anyone else you can think of. Maybe the TV news too.

Save some other people grief.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Mon May 15, 2006 5:23 pm

Wow, rgarito. What a mess. Thanks for a most interesting account of what you've been going through with that outfit.

dllfo · Post by **dllfo** » Mon May 15, 2006 5:45 pm

So sorry to hear you are going thru this. But a BIG thanks for telling us. I
like to brag on the good ones and warn everyone about the bad ones.

Apria totally jumped thru hoops to help me. They are nationwide, maybe you
could use them.

Everyone here seemed to be .....I faxed it......I didn't get it....but I faxed it
but I didn't get it.....and Apria .....even though NOT scheduled to do it, called
in a part timer to get my equipment to me asap. My wife will be going thru
the sleep apnea next week, so we will be sure to send Apria the business.

Good luck, I hope you get some relief......and I agree, send this to the BBB
and state Attorney General and health department.

pratzert · Post by **pratzert** » Mon May 15, 2006 5:57 pm

Sorry to hear of your huge headaches with your DME provider.

It sounds even worse than the NIGHTMARE I had been going through with MY DME provider... which is " A P R I A "

But I, fortunately, I realized that they are totally incompetent after a full month of trying to get my machine from them.

I ended up ordering my machine from CPAP.com and paying out of pocket.

But I still have my sanity.

So besides APRIA, we now know that your DME provider is another one to avoid.

Thanks

Sleepy Dog Lover · Post by **Sleepy Dog Lover** » Mon May 15, 2006 6:38 pm

I think with Apria, it depends on the branch. Some people have reported great service, although they seem to be in the minority. So I would say to use them with caution.

gecko1977a · Post by **gecko1977a** » Mon May 15, 2006 6:56 pm

yeah, my apria office is so far pretty good at getting back to me, they call within a day of the doctor ordering stuff. They were susposed to be sending me a chinstrap, but i have not seen it, though it was friday it was ordered.

rgarito · Post by **rgarito** » Mon May 15, 2006 7:21 pm

Anonymous wrote:How about filing with the State Attorney General's office and maybe the Dept of Health and anyone else you can think of. Maybe the TV news too.

I agree. I am currently writing the letter to the BBB and I will look into my options with the State Attorney General. I'll also look into the Dept of Health. And, if this does not get done soon, I am considering contacting a few TV stations--we have one down here that has a legal advice "column" on their news program that would probably jump at this one. And, the lawyer that runs the column is the head lawyer of the Ft Lauderdale public defender's office. So, it might get quite interesting....

They really don't understand who they were messing with--I'm self-employed, so I have plenty of time to write complaint letters and meet with TV reporters! And, the Italian blood in me always likes to get the final word!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 15, 2006 9:12 pm

That is kind of how I am. At least it would make me feel better to go through the motions of turning them in.

sleepylady · Post by **sleepylady** » Tue May 16, 2006 10:18 am

rgarito you may even want to let your doctor know. Many DME's get referrals from them. You may also want to call the company up and ask who the manager is of that office. From there ask to speak to him and then basically let him know what happened, what's going to happen, and how it's going to affect his business. If this is a branch of a larger company, I would go to the head of this company and let em have it.

Let us know what happens. It's terrible people like this are in business.

Melinda

DME_Guy · Post by **DME_Guy** » Tue May 16, 2006 10:33 pm

Excellent advice. Call your doctor to complain and the sleep lab. They may lose a referral source.

[quote="sleepylady"]rgarito you may even want to let your doctor know. Many DME's get referrals from them. You may also want to call the company up and ask who the manager is of that office. From there ask to speak to him and then basically let him know what happened, what's going to happen, and how it's going to affect his business. If this is a branch of a larger company, I would go to the head of this company and let em have it.

Let us know what happens. It's terrible people like this are in business.

Melinda

roadwarrior · Post by **roadwarrior** » Wed May 17, 2006 12:43 pm

Here's another one for you. In Northern Utah (Salt Lake Area) don't work with Med One. They SUCK. They just sent out letters to let their clients know they are no longer going to bill insurance, and if you wish to be one of the lucky ones to be able to do business with them you must give them a credit card so they can bill you directly for everything and you can deal with your own insurance companies. Well.........buh bye....they can go straight to the place that burns in eternity.

I also don't care for the machine they gave me, and since it's still on rental I asked to order the new Respironics RemStar Plus M portable as I travel for a living. They said....."no can do".....so I said " you're getting this machine back". They said "thats fine". So I contacted my doctor to order a new machine through Apria, who were super the other day when I asked to try some new masks. No problem and they are getting the new machine in quickly so I can return the other. So stay away from Med One..............they can stick their corporate attitude where the sun doesn't shine.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 17, 2006 8:38 pm

Pratzert---You did exactly what the insurance company wanted you to do. You paid for it out of your own pockert! The whole 'insurance' system sucks!

RedThunder94 · Post by **RedThunder94** » Wed May 17, 2006 8:52 pm

[quote="roadwarrior"]Here's another one for you. In Northern Utah (Salt Lake Area) don't work with Med One. They SUCK. They just sent out letters to let their clients know they are no longer going to bill insurance, and if you wish to be one of the lucky ones to be able to do business with them you must give them a credit card so they can bill you directly for everything and you can deal with your own insurance companies. Well.........buh bye....they can go straight to the place that burns in eternity.

I also don't care for the machine they gave me, and since it's still on rental I asked to order the new Respironics RemStar Plus M portable as I travel for a living. They said....."no can do".....so I said " you're getting this machine back". They said "thats fine". So I contacted my doctor to order a new machine through Apria, who were super the other day when I asked to try some new masks. No problem and they are getting the new machine in quickly so I can return the other. So stay away from Med One..............they can stick their corporate attitude where the sun doesn't shine.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:30 pm

they sound as bad as Apria. If you have the old approval letter from insurance you say they faxed to you, then that is all you need.

File a small claims against the All Med company and the Collection Agency and take them BOTH to small claims and ask for complete damages (cost of machine, phone calls, faxes etc.) in addition to the complete cost of equipment, ask the court for punitive damages against the Insurance company for bad-faith handling of your claim.

Save all correspondence, letter of medical necessity etc. Now if your medical insurance is a national company, then you most likely should have used their suggested DME and not this all med company. You basically went "out of network" by using that local yocal DME.

The problem is once you are diagnosed, insurance kinda runs and hides on what exactly you are supposed to do (what equip company to call, what DME to use, etc., etc).

A patient should be able to go to the insurance company website, search for cpap and obtain step-by-step instructions from them on how to obtain the equipment so insurance covers it.

For the price we pay for medical insurance they should deliver that equipment to your door in a Limousine with champagne.

Machine

Mask	Humidifier