MyEncore & Encore Pro 1.5 - Doesn't look good!

Sthnreb (Rick) was kind enough to send me his Encore Pro 1.5 database. The good news is that the tables in the database are not all that different from the 1.4 tables BUT the extremely bad news is that it appears that Respironics has encrypted all of the uiser based information in the tables so that the entries cannot be read.

I can read all of the data in tables that are generic to the database, such as the list of machine types etc, but anything related to sleep events is not readable (gives an entry of "#NAME?" in Microsoft Access). I strongly suspect that Respironics might have done this to stop MyEncore dead in its tracks... and they may have succeeded.

I'll continue to dig into it, but right now I am not hopeful. If there are any database gurus out there who might work with me - please PM me.

In the meantime: do not upgrade to Encore Pro 1.5 if you want to use MyEncore!

derek wrote:BUT the extremely bad news is that it appears that Respironics has encrypted all of the user based information in the tables so that the entries cannot be read.

I strongly suspect that Respironics might have done this to stop MyEncore dead in its tracks... and they may have succeeded.

This makes me angry. Why did Respironics do this? Why would they not want us to have the information MyEncore provides? Is it because they aren't making any money off of it? Are they determined to keep users in the dark? Are they forcing us to rely on their bed partner, the DME? Are they wielding their mighty corporation axe against the little guy? Why are they so threatened by MyEncore that they have now encrypted all the user-based information in the tables so the entries cannot be read?

Unbelievable.

Jerks!

The following is an excerpt from a June 14th e-mail I received from Respironics after a somewhat heated exchange (over several days) about the fact that their "numbers" (in their "SLEEP THERAPY LONG TERM TREND" report) don't average properly (my AHI was showing at least 0.5 higher than if I added the numbers up and manually averaged them).
I think it kind of sums it up.....they don't want us to interfere with the relationship they have with the DMEs and doctors. They would just prefer we stay "in the dark" about our therapy and health. That way they can ALL rip us off with prices and insurance premiums.

Den


This software was not designed for patient use.

Regards,
Respironics Product Support

Den, I think that was just their abbreviated response. The rest of it went something like this:

So, you found a mistake in our program. Clearly, you're much too hung up on getting the correct data. We've never had a DME bother to look so closely at the numbers, so why should you? Silly little cpap user. Lets just keep this between ourselves, shall we?

This software was not designed for patient use. We'll do everything in our power to prevent you from taking control of your own cpap therapy. We prefer the user not be aware how easy it is to adjust our machines and monitor the results because we get lots and lots and lots of money from the DMEs. I'm sure you understand.

Regards,
Respironics Product Support

Sleepyinsunnyvale here. Sorry to log in a Guest but after 3 days I still can log on as a user.

Perhaps Respironics is trying to block MyEncore because there's nothing in it for them or perhaps they have a more pragmatic reason.
We live in a very litigous (sp?) society where someone can collect from McDonalds because the water in the coffee they spilled on themself was too hot. If a user of a Respironics XPAP cannot only read the data but can make a medical decision and change the machine in some way (Rx for example) and possible do harm to themselves then, if I were the lawyer for Respironics, I would advise them to do what them need to to protect the company. This is why they don't give out the clinician manual to us mere mortals.
Perhaps the idea of an Enore Pro Lite that allows reading of the data but does not allow for any changes to be made to the machine is a good compromise.

If there is an attorney among us perhaps they can offer an opinion on this.

Hello Derek,
It would be a shame to see MyEncore go by the way side. In my short time in working through my nightly results, MyEncore has been much more helpful than Encore Pro in helping me understand what is happening. Much of MyEncore’s success stems from the aggregate data displays over a time period or across a series of pressure ranges. It also is a much faster and more intuitive interface than what Encore Pro provides. Encore Pro’s interface is primitive and shows little understanding of data analysis needs. Simply taking snapshots without trying to understand trends and correlations is the best way to make the wrong decision about a treatment strategy.

As for the new changes to version 1.5, I can think of some valid reasons to encrypt the patient data, although to only do it for some of the data seems sloppy, so maybe their reasons weren’t what I’m thinking.

To go forward, I’ve got considerable experience in working with xBase databases and use them in my own software. It has been a long time since I’ve worked in VB or tried to work with MS Access, but I’ve still a lot books on both and still have Visual Studio 6 Enterprise Edition installed on this computer. I also have access to some very good programmers who might solve most of the problems we might surface.

If I were looking at solving this problem, I would be thinking a call to Respironics would be my first thought to see if they’ll supply an API for accessing the jumbled data. If that fails, I would try to see if the data that is exposed is the actual machine record information. If that is the data you’ve mentioned as being “generic to the database” and its fields are identifiable, then I would be looking at capturing that data and developing the functions to create the data that MyEncore needs. If the error that “Wulfman” mentions is more than rounding errors, than that would be the best course even if access to the old data were still available.

Should the patient’s name no longer be accessible, this could be captured from a user preference screen entry that each MyEncore user completes when they initialize the software. A worse case scenario would be for the user to punch in the data numbers daily, and let MyEncore save them in an MS Access DB or xBase structure.

With all that said, I’m willing to put effort into making MyEncore whole again or even better if there are ideas and room for expansion.

It's kind of interesting that the subject of an "Encore Pro Lite" is coming up. This is something that I suggested to one of their clinicians in a phone conversation after becoming thoroughly pissed off with their "Support" representative (in fact I think that I used that exact term). I have to say that this was BEFORE I downloaded Derek's MyEncore on June 16th (I believe that was the day he released the non-beta version) and became so thrilled with his program.


Neversleeps,

Yes, that WAS an abbreviated excerpt of the e-mail exchange. In actuality, they tried to tell me that the numbers and graphs represented a "TREND" (like the report says). My question was that if it is supposed to show a "TREND" (which to me is another word for "forecast" or "direction") and my numbers are going DOWN......WHY are the report numbers going UP??? That's when the "shut me off" from the "Product Support".......

Den

I wonder if there's a way to interface directly with the smart card driver and read the card directly. I imagine at some level it must just look like a long, perhaps comma-delimited, log file, with machine data simply being written to the card in preset intervals.

Guest,
My experience with reading devices directly doesn't reflect your description. Instead the data is usually stored as a large binary that requires size and type information to read properly.

Still, without having any API to access the MAYA driver, I'm only assuming and we all know what that really spells.

Well - I may have goofed, or spoken too soon. I just got back from winterizing my boat and took another look at the database, and this time I can see many more of the tables (but not all) in clear text. I don't know what is going on - maybe it's my machine - but I'm working on it!

Also, running MyEncore in debug mode I could read sthnreb's name from the database. That's encouraging!

I may owe Respironics an apology More later...

(Edit: Tried it yet again and I can now see all the tables in the database! Looks like I will be able to create a MyEncore for Ver. 1.5 after all It might take a couple of weeks)

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Good news on the data Derek!

Actually, "Respironics" might own you a commission. When I was trying to decide on a machine, seeing your post of MyEncore's description, that information helped me make the move to the REMStar. For certain, people are getting more satisfaction out of their REMStar puffers because of MyEncore, and I for one am certainly appreciative of your efforts.

Dittos what Roger said! My choice of a RemStar Auto was primarily based on the availability of the software from both Derek and Respironics (via cpap.com) AND the wealth of expertise on this site .