Apria - gotta love 'em

[kaiasgram]

So.... I am not now, nor have I ever been, a customer of Apria. Nevertheless, I received a voicemail message earlier today that went like this:

Hello, this is Apria health care calling, I hope I have the right number for [first name] [last name].

She did not have the right number. Oops, HIPAA just went out the window.

It's not like she had no helpful clues -- my voicemail greeting (she called my work phone) says "Hello, this is [kaiasgram], Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, and you've reached my confidential office voicemail..." and continues with all the local crisis line/emergency information that therapists provide in their voicemail greeting.

But she didn't let that stop her. She continued:

I'm calling to let you know that we cannot deliver your equipment because we are not covered by Medicare. Also because our records show that the equipment was delivered on July 17...

Apria - gotta love 'em

[BleepingBeauty]

Ugh. My brother (across the country from me) just got a new machine, and his new DME is Apria... Needless to say, I wasn't happy to hear that. On the bright side, though, I told him very sternly NOT to accept a crappy machine and, much to my surprise, they DID give him a decent one. I don't think anyone is monitoring his treatment, so I'm trying to work out how I can get him to switch out the SD card and send it to me for reading his data so I can know how he's doing with it. (He sustained a traumatic brain injury as a teen, so this could be challenging, but I hope it's do-able.)

[ems]

But she didn't let that stop her. She continued:

I'm calling to let you know that we cannot deliver your equipment because we are not covered by Medicare. Also because our records show that the equipment was delivered on July 17...

Apria - gotta love 'em

I give you permission NOT to love 'em!

[kaiasgram]

Ugh. My brother (across the country from me) just got a new machine, and his new DME is Apria... Needless to say, I wasn't happy to hear that. On the bright side, though, I told him very sternly NOT to accept a crappy machine and, much to my surprise, they DID give him a decent one. I don't think anyone is monitoring his treatment, so I'm trying to work out how I can get him to switch out the SD card and send it to me for reading his data so I can know how he's doing with it. (He sustained a traumatic brain injury as a teen, so this could be challenging, but I hope it's do-able.)

Could you send him an SD card (from Officemax, Walmart, or wherever) and then have him watch the video tutorial for his machine (link is below in my signature box), to see where the SD card is removed and inserted?

[palerider]

Ugh. My brother (across the country from me) just got a new machine, and his new DME is Apria... Needless to say, I wasn't happy to hear that. On the bright side, though, I told him very sternly NOT to accept a crappy machine and, much to my surprise, they DID give him a decent one. I don't think anyone is monitoring his treatment, so I'm trying to work out how I can get him to switch out the SD card and send it to me for reading his data so I can know how he's doing with it. (He sustained a traumatic brain injury as a teen, so this could be challenging, but I hope it's do-able.)

you can easily work out a little batch file for windows to zip up the contents of the card and put it in dropbox or something.... or .. just set up a shared dropbox between you two, (or spideroak if you want it to be secure) and have him copy the files in.

no need to send the card in the mail.

[BleepingBeauty]

Ugh. My brother (across the country from me) just got a new machine, and his new DME is Apria... Needless to say, I wasn't happy to hear that. On the bright side, though, I told him very sternly NOT to accept a crappy machine and, much to my surprise, they DID give him a decent one. I don't think anyone is monitoring his treatment, so I'm trying to work out how I can get him to switch out the SD card and send it to me for reading his data so I can know how he's doing with it. (He sustained a traumatic brain injury as a teen, so this could be challenging, but I hope it's do-able.)

Could you send him an SD card (from Officemax, Walmart, or wherever) and then have him watch the video tutorial for his machine (link is below in my signature box), to see where the SD card is removed and inserted?

I can, and I will if he can't get one locally (I've already asked him to do that, if he can). I suspect he'll have to prove compliance for awhile, so I don't want to screw up and have him send me his card without another one being in the machine, in case the DME reads the card. I believe he has a modem on the machine, so I'm hoping his compliance info will be transmitted through that, and the DME won't care about the SD card, but it's hard to be sure how things will work. I've called his DME twice and haven't gotten anywhere yet... It's frustrating for me. If I was next door, it'd be a different story.

[Pugsy]

I second what Palerider said...just have him email you a copy of the SD card contents if he can or upload it to some place like dropbox.
I have done that often when people were using a machine and couldn't get the software to work.
If you need specific details on how to do it just let me know. I keep a blank SD card handy for that reason. Especially when I was doing the PR S1 model 960 and Encore would only look for a SD card.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Surprisingly enough, I'm on record with this forum for mildly defending Apria a few times last year. You won't hear me doing that again. For the last four months I now officially HATE them and am looking for a replacement DME. I have Medicare and Healthnet... any suggestions

[BleepingBeauty]

you can easily work out a little batch file for windows to zip up the contents of the card and put it in dropbox or something.... or .. just set up a shared dropbox between you two, (or spideroak if you want it to be secure) and have him copy the files in.

no need to send the card in the mail.

I second what Palerider said...just have him email you a copy of the SD card contents if he can or upload it to some place like dropbox.
I have done that often when people were using a machine and couldn't get the software to work.
If you need specific details on how to do it just let me know. I keep a blank SD card handy for that reason. Especially when I was doing the PR S1 model 960 and Encore would only look for a SD card.

He doesn't have a computer and wouldn't know the first thing about using one, but thanks for the suggestion and the offer of help with it.

Surprisingly enough, I'm on record with this forum for mildly defending Apria a few times last year. You won't hear me doing that again. For the last four months I now officially HATE them and am looking for a replacement DME. I have Medicare and Healthnet... any suggestions

I'm with you. The minute he said he was getting a new machine and said someone had left him a message about it (my brother couldn't tell me which DME it was), I got the number and called, myself. As soon as I heard, "Hi, you've reached ______ at Apria Healthcare," I about freaked out. It was voicemail, and I left a message, but the guy never called me back (even after another call I made to him a couple of weeks later). So I warned my brother about them (said they're known as CRApria around here) and told him to not accept a low-end machine, advising him to call me when they told him what he was getting so I could be sure he wasn't being stiffed with old technology or being given a brick. He received a "new" machine in April when he moved to a different facility (the machine he had been using at the previous facility belonged to them, and he couldn't take it with); the "new" machine he got when he moved (not from Apria, to my knowledge) was a Sleepstyle 200. I assume it'd been sitting on a warehouse shelf for ages and, since my brother is brain-damaged, they (whoever the DME was at the time) saw him as an easy mark to get rid of it.

It's a trickier situation than dealing with someone whose brain is not functioning well because of apnea. If I can get him a spare SD card and get him to swap the two out on a weekly basis (as he sends one or the other to me), it'll be about the most I can hope for.

[jencat824]

BleepingBeauty,

To keep the cards straight with him you might want him to number them '1' & '2', then have him keep a list on a notepad what date he sends you card 1, then card 2 etc. I've got a sister-in-law who suffered a TBI about 20 years ago. I've learned consistency, repetition & a structured process help keep her from getting confused. May sound silly, but just thought I'd throw that trick out there in case it might be helpful. It would keep him from sending the wrong card (same card twice in a row). Also colors can work too, red & blue for example.

Jen

[palerider]

He doesn't have a computer and wouldn't know the first thing about using one, but thanks for the suggestion and the offer of help with it.
....
It's a trickier situation than dealing with someone whose brain is not functioning well because of apnea. If I can get him a spare SD card and get him to swap the two out on a weekly basis (as he sends one or the other to me), it'll be about the most I can hope for.

does he have a friend that has a computer?

if you're going to be doing the sd card mailing thing, you'll probably need more than two for cross country mailing.

the idea of numbering them is good.

[BleepingBeauty]

BleepingBeauty,

To keep the cards straight with him you might want him to number them '1' & '2', then have him keep a list on a notepad what date he sends you card 1, then card 2 etc. I've got a sister-in-law who suffered a TBI about 20 years ago. I've learned consistency, repetition & a structured process help keep her from getting confused. May sound silly, but just thought I'd throw that trick out there in case it might be helpful. It would keep him from sending the wrong card (same card twice in a row). Also colors can work too, red & blue for example.

Jen

Thanks, Jen, and it doesn't sound silly at all. If I can make this work, the idea will be for him to have a card in the machine while I have his other one to download and read the data. It'll take 3-4 days in the mail for the transfer, so I don't know that there'll be a lot of confusion about which is which. I can ask the guy who runs the facility to make sure he's exchanging them properly (and sending me the one he's used) on a weekly basis.

does he have a friend that has a computer?

if you're going to be doing the sd card mailing thing, you'll probably need more than two for cross country mailing.

the idea of numbering them is good.

I'm sure the guy that runs the facility must have a computer, but I'm also sure he's got no experience with apnea and/or downloading the data from the machine. (And not for anything, I'm sure his plate is full with the residents he's in charge of and their daily needs, so I don't think it prudent or fair, really, to ask him to be involved in this.)

[JQLewis]

There's probably enough anti-Apria material on this forum, but I might as well add my little bit. My PCP scripted for an APAP machine for me, and then his assistant put the script through to Apria. I actually sat in her office when she contacted them, and answered some questions she relayed to me while she was on the phone with them, including information on my insurance. About a week later Apria called me and told me that they didn't accept my insurance, and told me I should switch insurance companies and call them back. I've been told a lot of stupid things since getting introduced to the wacky world of sleep medicine, but that was about the stupidest. I should drop my insurance company, and possibly lose every doctor I see, just so I could give them the chance to put through a script when they had no idea whether it would ever be approved.

I'd been trying to get a better machine to replace my non-data capable Escape for months, and every set-back wasted my time and made it even less likely that I would be able to succeed. They really do seem completely indifferent to the harm they do to people.

[Janknitz]

Crapria doesn't accept Medicare???

[library lady]

Ask your doctor for a copy of your prescription if you don't already have it, then check your insurance to see which providers they accept, and go elsewhere. If your insurance lists Apria, go elsewhere anyway... but tell Apria that you're going elsewhere because they "lied" to you.