Suffering with Awful Medical Supply Company

So - I've been using my bipap since 2014, and it has changed my life for the better - but, like many of us, it's been a journey and not always a smooth one.

Today I use nasal pillows, sleep on my side only and use liberal amounts of a nasal gel to offset the rhinitis-burn from my machine's high pressure.

I clean my machine nightly with activated oxygen tech, which has eliminated constant and nearly-catastrophic ear infections - which happened regardless of how often I carefully washed and dried my equipment (which was daily, every morning).

Finally, some pretty minor weight loss, and adjustments to my pressure (down, surprisingly) over the last year have made using this essential technology simple and bearable. I regularly score at, or nearly, perfect on my sleep monitoring app, with AHI of less than 3.

That's great for me, but not everyone is able to fight their way to such a happy conclusion - this site and a lot (LOT) of personal time, research and persistence has gotten me here. One thing that did NOT help was my local medical supplier - who also doubles as the helpful consulting arm to those of us in this area who require apnea treatment. And, although I have adopted the apnea treatment well, working with this company to get my supplies, get questions answered and avoid constant billing and insurance snafus has been, well... less than optimal, shall we say. It's still a constant fight. As this company holds a virtual local monopoly on these services we're simply stuck with it. I'm getting older, but I went through all of this while I was still sharp through my mid-40's and can still advocate for myself in a way that I think a lot of others can't.

All this has led me to wonder: what are others experience, here, with their local suppliers/support? What do you like, what do you hate - what do you wish they offered? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experience.

I honestly don’t know who my interactions were at the pulmonologist’s office.

I am assuming it was the DME at one point. The one thing that I liked was that she let me try on pretty much any mask that I wanted to try on. She had a very big selection, and that was helpful in finding the one that I have now. I was able to return the one that was similar to mine, the N30i and traded it in painlessly for theN30 which is working spectacularly for me.

I have to go for a follow up visit in a few weeks and I will be interested to see how that goes. I’m supposed to be able to pick up those things that the health insurance provides for like an additional cushion for my mask.

I don’t recall the credentials of the nurse or technician that I spoke with at my compliance visit, but she was the one who actually wrote out the script. I didn’t get any kind of push back or hassle from her. they seemed unaware that you could put an SD card in your machine and track your data, or, they just don’t like people doing it. It wasn’t going to stop me though and the woman who helped me listened to my concerns and actually showed me how to get in and change my settings as I had requested.

basically, I feel very lucky because I had a pretty easy interaction from start to finish. And now thanks to everybody on this board. I feel like I can manage this pretty well without any interaction with them.

I have a Medicare advantage plan and I have been dealing with a local small DME for over 12 years. I don't order a lot of supplies but when I do, I call in the morning and pick up my order in the afternoon. They are great to work with.

@ Piperjoe

Suggest calling your insurance company and see what DMEs are in their network. Or check out the DMEs online. You're not as locked in as you may think. Some DMEs are owned by sleep docs, which is a conflict of interest. Not saying this is the case in this example, of course.

If you are not happy with your DME you can switch to any that you choose. Make sure your insurance company will cover the items they provide. My first DME was local, but a pain to work with. They would not order the new mask I wanted so I switched to an online company that has been great.

haven't had to buy much. but i use the forum sponsor and amazon. don't futz with insurance so i've got leeway.

zonker wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 02, 2022 6:18 pm

haven't had to buy much. but i use the forum sponsor and amazon. don't futz with insurance so i've got leeway.

they have p10 pillows abundant on ebay too btw

I too have had horrible experiences with my dme and insurance. I have gone to just buying what I need from amazon. Its easier and with all the billing hassles its easier too.

piperjoe68 wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 02, 2022 3:00 pm

I clean my machine nightly with activated oxygen tech, which has eliminated constant and nearly-catastrophic ear infections - which happened regardless of how often I carefully washed and dried my equipment (which was daily, every morning).

Not on topic re: DME but still important

Please consult with your ENT to deal with your ear infections.

Please stop using "activated oxygen" which is just marketing for ozone.

There are many threads here on the forum regarding the damage ozone can do to your health and your CPAP equipment.

You also would have less hassles with DMEs in general because you wouldn't be prematurely aging your masks and hoses, etc.