I Can't Believe It!

Okay, maybe this isn't as exciting as it sounds, but it is another DME story.

I have my beautiful, sleek and stylish Remstar Auto with C-Flex now with its lovely Smart Card. I take it to my DME after having the machine for 2 weeks just to see what has been going on. After a week of mishaps, had to send it here/there, our computers are not working kind of thing, etc. I finally get my report back.

Guess what it said! NOTHING! It was a damn Compliance Report. I could have told them when and how much I used the machine. I wanted more information than that. I am just peeved!!

When I get my tax return back I'm buying my own reader and software!!!

I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE ALL THAT TROUBLE FOR SOMETHING I COULD HAVE TOLD THEM!!

I'm sorry you didn't get the results you wanted. But I will warn you that you'll probably get a lot of "I told you so" and "you should have done this" and "those who choose to ignore history are destined to repeat it" from some members of this forum.

I really can relate to how frustrated you must feel. I hope you're able to get the necessary software and begin tracking things as you need to.


Jeanne, who's a bit soured on this forum but will get over it.

Told ya so.


Ok, now that we got that out of the way... If they downloaded your data, they can still generate the full report. If you can go back there, ask to talk to the person that downloads the data. Under your patient page, there should be a message showing the download. Click on it, and you should get a box asking you about the date range on one side, and whether you want Compliance or Full. MAKE THEM CLICK FULL!! Then you will get the report with your AHI, pressure etc...


(BTW was just kidding about the I told ya so!)

Heidi,

You can try to get them to give you the FULL data, but I wouldn't waste the effort. You just got screwed by another evil DME (sorry, Christine RRT). What did they say when you asked why there was only compliance data? Mikesus is right, since they downloaded your card, they can go back and print out the FULL report for you, but I bet the liars will tell you that they can't. If you talk to them and they cooperate, I'll be the first to give them a pat on the back, but I won't hold out much hope.

sorry again, Chirstine RRT, but these evil DME stories get me worked up.

Before I got my own software and reader, I took my card to the DME and he printed a compliance report and that was about it. Needless to say I was underwhelmed. Anyway, I go back to work and 20 minutes later the guy calls me and says "I found the real report!" He actually drove to my office right then and gave me the full printout. They aint all bad... Maybe yours just didn't know how either. Ask again, can't hurt.

jjb

jjb has a good point. Probably most DMEs are never asked to download data - not even by a doctor. Some may have never done a smart card download, ever. For the most part, the doctors simply aren't interested in seeing a patient's data. As Christine RRT has mentioned before, the vast majority of patients "out there" aren't interested in seeing their own data either. I know that's surprising to us message-boarders, given our overweening fascination with every tiny detail and tick mark of our own treatments.

Anyone who carries his/her smart card to the DME, all full of hope that a wonderfully detailed report will soon be in their hands should do this: Tell the DME that after the data download is finished and they doubleclick the "Sleep Therapy Compliance Download" to see the results, the Encore program will ask this question - "Summary" or "Full Details". They should click "Full".

When the "Report Viewer" comes up, it will seem like there is only one page to be seen...the "Compliance Details" page. Scrolling down on that page just goes to the end of that one (first) page and makes you think, "Well, gosh, that's all there is - just this Compliance page." But, if you look at the tool bar up at the top of the Compliance Details page, there are two tiny up/down green arrows. Use those arrows to go from page to page throughout the full report. To print ALL of the pages, just click the printer symbol with the word "Print" beside it.

Actually, for our purposes (finding out what events happened each night - how many apneas got by the machine's defenses, how many hypopneas, what pressure was used and when, what our AHI was each night, what the leak rate was, etc.) the first several pages in Encore Pro are useless...it's all the rest of the pages that we, as patients, like to look at - the details.

Personally, I couldn't care less about "Compliance Details" or "Long Term Trend" pages. What I want to see are the individual nightly reports - all the pages that have "REMstar Auto Daily Details" at the top and "REMstar Auto Daily Events Per Hour" at the bottom.

(Rested gal)jjb has a good point. Probably most DMEs are never asked to download data - not even by a doctor. Some may have never done a smart card download, ever.

That is so true!

My DME had to have the smart card sent out. They didn't even have the software and reader themselves. When I told him that I watned to buy my own with software he was surprised. Especially when I told him how much it was going to cost. He checked with his distributer and my DME's cost was four times higher. The distributer even went on to say there was no way I could get it for that price.

Despite not having a reader and software, I have been very lucky with my DME. They have been very helpful. Just a little behind the times like many in the medical profession.

Thanks to this forum and some very knowledgeable folks I went from failure in my treatment with a cpap to success with apap and most importantly the reader and software. After 5 months, I'm sleeping all night and loving it. Finally, starting to feel better [/b]

Poor Christine's gonna faint, but my "poor DME Kimmy" wasn't even too sure that my 420E came with optional software. She was interested in my telling her about it, but has not called since. So I can go in and print out all my numbers, figure out my AHI, even look for leaks, etc. This is the Silverlining software, that I gather is for the 420E only--unless someone knows if it can be used as a software program for any other machine? I doubt that, but not being too techno savvy I am just happy I can watch my own progress and even can track, the graphs, figure out where I had yanked that beast off, went to the bathroom, (spikes), and discovered I must be one squeaking, squawky noisy bird in my sleep as my "acoustical vibes" are always high. But from what I've gathered these can be snores, snorts, whatever.

So I'm happy I have this apap, as I think now that I finally got needed advice on setting it all up, I can watch myself.

Downside is I have to physically move the 420E to the computer and bend down/unplug/re-plug, etc. But if that's the worse of it, that's ok.

I print out my data and do the math. For instance my AHI for Wed nigh was 1.6 and for Thurs. night was a 2.2. So I guess that's pretty good, huh?

Maybe some of the computer pap'ers, can tell us if this software can be adapted to any other machines, or even any other PB machines themselves.?

Don't know for sure......
Think the brochure does mention 2 other models........it can be used with...?

Is the smart card on the REM machine like a little digital card (like in the camera)...? Won't it hold multiple nights or just one night's events?

Thanks.

Sleeping With The Enemy wrote:Okay, maybe this isn't as exciting as it sounds, but it is another DME story.

I have my beautiful, sleek and stylish Remstar Auto with C-Flex now with its lovely Smart Card. I take it to my DME after having the machine for 2 weeks just to see what has been going on. After a week of mishaps, had to send it here/there, our computers are not working kind of thing, etc. I finally get my report back.

Guess what it said! NOTHING! It was a damn Compliance Report. I could have told them when and how much I used the machine. I wanted more information than that. I am just peeved!!

When I get my tax return back I'm buying my own reader and software!!!

I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE ALL THAT TROUBLE FOR SOMETHING I COULD HAVE TOLD THEM!!

gailzee wrote:Is the smart card on the REM machine like a little digital card (like in the camera)...? Won't it hold multiple nights or just one night's events?

The literature says 6 months worth of data. I do wonder if anything makes it different from the camera smart cards - you can get readers for those for under $20. You would still need software to make any sense of the data though.

Zeez PLeez,

It will only hold about a week of full data, 6 mo of compliance data only. It is not the same as any of the "camera cards." I have read it is the same/similar to a direct TV card. I have no experience with these so i can't say for sure.

The Silverlining software can only be used with the Puritan Bennett machines that collect data.

A smart card resembles a credit card in size and shape, but inside it is completely different. First of all it HAS an inside -- a normal credit card is a simple piece of plastic. The inside of a smart card usually contains an embedded 8-bit microprocessor. The microprocessor is under a gold contact pad on one side of the card. Think of the microprocessor as replacing the usual magnetic stripe on a credit card or debit card.