CPAPtalk.com

Maybe lack of remote compliance monitoring will be enough to dissuade DME's from dispensing them. And if your doctor prescribes a heated hose and these really don't have that capability, the DME can't dispense it. DME's don't get more reimbursement for data capable machines, but they do for heated hoses, which is why private insurance customers usually get heated hoses and Medicare customers usually don't. I feel like this is aimed at the out of pocket paying online ordering ignorant consumer, which is why the Airsense CPAP continues to exist for the DME market to screw customers with.

Thatgirl wrote: DME's don't get more reimbursement for data capable machines, .

But they don't get less for cheap bricks either so there is a bigger mark up on them.

I will check out the RX info at cpap.com. My old RX said heated hose, but the DME gave me a regular one. The DME will follow what RX say, but there are different brands and some functions are not really listed in RX. So for the new user as me, I won't be able to tell.

mibbim wrote:I will check out the RX info at cpap.com. My old RX said heated hose, but the DME gave me a regular one. The DME will follow what RX say, but there are different brands and some functions are not really listed in RX. So for the new user as me, I won't be able to tell.

cpap.com has no financial incentive to stick you with a low level machine to maximize profits.

do you think they are targeting a certain set of users???

possibly truck drivers??? (or others I don't know about)

All they have to report is hours of usage for compliance to keep their CDL.

They don't have to report all that other stuff.

So why buy a machine with all the bells & whistles, when it's not necessary.

(of course, we don't feel that way, the other stuff is very important to us so we can maximize the benefit of the therapy)

NormagiJoy wrote:do you think they are targeting a certain set of users???

possibly truck drivers??? (or others I don't know about)

All they have to report is hours of usage for compliance to keep their CDL.

They don't have to report all that other stuff.

nobody has to report all that other stuff, though they should.

they (resmed) is responding to the call from their customers (DMEs) for cheap crap that the DMEs can foist off on unsuspecting users and get the same insurance reimbursement that they get on more expensive machines.

and then try and up charge (balance billing) for a better machine under the same insurance billing code

NormagiJoy wrote:do you think they are targeting a certain set of users???

No, they are targeting a single channel of distribution - DMEs. The rationale is:
1) DMEs are the ONLY channel they recognize - they sell to no other group (that I know of)
2) Unlike prescription drugs, docs rarely specify xPAP therapy by brand or capability other than pressure settings - they usually leave it up to the DME
3) DMEs are paid using a single code regardless of any machine brand, model, or capability - what they pay the supplier may not fit this pattern though, the cost to the DME of each model may depend on the unit's retail price point.
4) Consequently, a DME's profit margin is maximized by buying and issuing the lowest cost units.
5) In the past, Respironics captured a large market share by offering units that fit this distribution model best; now, ResMed has converted a fair number of DMEs by beating PR to market with newer units earlier. They are attempting to solidify this gain by offering new units that match the channel's business needs at significantly lower acquisition costs.
Given this, it is incumbent on the user to do their due diligence and work to educate their docs that they are personally involved in and committed to their therapy. They should let their docs know they do not view xPAP as a commoditized process - not all xPAP units are equal - they should let their care givers know they want to have some control beyond the minimal compliance data currently seen as the norm.

NormagiJoy wrote:do you think they are targeting a certain set of users???

possibly truck drivers??? (or others I don't know about)

All they have to report is hours of usage for compliance to keep their CDL.

They don't have to report all that other stuff.

So why buy a machine with all the bells & whistles, when it's not necessary.

(of course, we don't feel that way, the other stuff is very important to us so we can maximize the benefit of the therapy)

The advantage of seeing data is to determine if you are getting the therapy you need. Is the pressure maximized to eliminate as many apneas as possible.
The reporting is secondary....even truck drivers should know whether the CPAP is working for them. Just reporting that they are using it without knowing if it is doing any good is useless.

I had to be under anesthesia again a few days ago and I had been trying to think of analogies which might help me understand this brick Pugsy shares. Why someone would purposely want a machine they could not optimize? That's what I was thinking about while ignoring what was going on or about to go on.

I don't know cars but even I know they have steering wheels ... but that is a terrible analogy.


I thought about kids playing games with no scores where everyone wins regardless of who gets a goal.
...about if data mattered

~~~as long as things seem the same?

Like medical students (or any students) just compliantly showing up.
Taking the test.
...and the test is not graded.

There's no ink?
Not even invisible ink?

I thought VCR's were recording us?
I just can't grasp the cost of adding the data capable part?

Maybe they can sell that part as an add on?
I can understand folks wanting to keep data secret but not from themselves?
(unless it's a bathroom scale, huh? LOL Scale with no numbers?)

Funhouse mirrors and photoshop?

Fortunately, I felt very confident in my doctor and my anesthesiologist.
I felt they had been tested and had not just compliantly shown up and paid (borrowed / been loaned) for their jobs.
So I was not scared going under.

I have no medical professional associated with my cpap that I even know.


I would be very upset if anyone is charging my insurance company.
I pay Blue Cross Blue Shield a lot and they have been good to me, I think?

I don't want a DME ripping off my insurance company and making it go bankrupt!

Do these guys refer to themselves as DME's?

Like if I said, "Oh, are you the DME", they would say "yes"?

They seem to always have pseduo-names and names with 'consultant and executive' blends.
portmanteaus-ish? 'med-portmanteaus' ?

I guess this is why they want moderation.
I can't imagine how many 'DME types' hide in all aspects of this weirdly regulated time we are living in~~~

poor sensitive easily offended sweet people (as BlackSpinner wrote of) in bed with liars
so people can not share the truth
used as cover

DATALESS
everything removed and deleted and banned so there's little hope to discern the truth

I'm not going to count question marks in this post but I think I still have more questions than answers?
I am not sure I am a newbie after all these months or just a drugged 'apneaddled' dimwit ~~~

apnaddled?


Why make a brick?
Who are they for?
Will soon they ONLY make bricks?

...maybe give cpap's that can be used for your fishtank when you quit?
2017 upcycle?

(not as good as ChunkyFrog's bong idea)

[quote="Grace~~~"]I had to be under anesthesia again a few days ago and I had been trying to think of analogies which might help me understand this brick Pugsy shares. Why someone would purposely want a machine they could not optimize? That's what I was thinking about while ignoring what was going on or about to go on.[.quote]
because they're ignorant.

We should make T-shirts

I'm not ignorant
I just like ignoring things


...and provide (sell) them to DME's who can give/(sell -charge) include them as a bonus gift / accessory to go with the bricks?

To be fair to Resmed, they are probably responding to demand for low cost machines that is currently being met by Asian manufacturers like Remsmart and Apex. I have increasingly seen new users getting stuck with these machines, and they have a price-point similar to these basic machines introduced by Resmed. Not all DMEs are distributing the lowest quality that meets the prescription specification, but the temptation is obvious. Since there are machines flooding in from Asia that meet this demand, a defensive response by Resmed to preserve market share makes sense from a business standpoint. Now it's up to end-users to get educated before they are dispensed a machine...nothing new about that,

But what if these low-end machines start to affect what insurers use as a price point for reimbursing CPAP prescriptions? Then it will affect everyone that uses insurance to pay for a machine regardless of knowledge. There are at least three manufacturers distributing to the U.S. with FDA approved machines that meet this sub-$500 price point for auto CPAP.

The hysteria here over bricks on the market is way overblown. The typical CPAP user has no interest in looking at data. Better they use a brick than they get scared away thinking they have to deal with software and data analysis.

Based upon the rating of McDaniel’s Estimated Average IQ Score, the following US States have an average IQ rating of the following.

1. Massachusetts: 104.3
2. New Hampshire: 104.2
3. North Dakota: 103.8
4. Vermont: 103.8
5. Minnesota: 103.7
6. Maine: 103.4
7. Montana: 103.4
8. Iowa: 103.2
9. Connecticut: 103.1
10. Wisconsin: 102.9
11. Kansas: 102.8
12. New Jersey: 102.8
13. South Dakota: 102.8
14. Wyoming: 102.4
15. Nebraska: 102.3
16. Virginia: 101.9
17. Washington: 101.9
18. Ohio: 101.8
19. Indiana: 101.7
20. Colorado: 101.6
21. Pennsylvania: 101.5
22. Idaho: 101.4
23. Oregon: 101.2
24. Utah: 101.1
25. Missouri: 101
26. New York: 100.7
27. Michigan: 100.5
28. Delaware: 100.4
29. N. Carolina: 100.2
30. Texas: 100
31. Illinois: 99.9
32. Maryland: 99.7
33. Rhode Island: 99.5
34. Kentucky: 99.4
35. Oklahoma: 99.3
36. Alaska: 99
37. W. Virginia: 98.7
38. Florida: 98.4
39. S. Carolina: 98.4
40. Georgia: 98
41. Tennessee: 97.7
42. Arkansas: 97.5
43. Arizona: 97.4
44. Nevada: 96.5
45. Alabama: 95.7
46. New Mexico: 95.7
47. Hawaii: 95.6
48. California: 95.5
49. Louisiana: 95.3
50. Mississippi: 94.2

I miss the connection between IQ and cheap CPAPs that don't produce data.

This may be a reflection of my I.Q. so perhaps you could explain. Also, I don't see the comments in this thread as hysteria, but concern that increasing numbers of motivated users will be showing up on this site without access to their information needed to fully help them.