ResMed email on DMEs/price increase

Those of you who emailed ResMed about their price increases and withdrawal from online DMEs probably got the same email in reply. Here it is for those who haven't seen it. (Sorry if it's already been posted and this is a duplicate.)

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for sharing your comments about recent changes to ResMed's
Internet sales policies. The purpose of our internet policies is to promote
and support a high level of patient service and care now and in the future.
Sleep apnea treatment is complex and in order to be successful, patients
need help and support from a trained professional. The price you pay for
medical equipment includes not only the cost of the products, but also the
cost of the medical care you receive. Your therapy is an important part of
your life. It helps you to improve your health and feel better. For those
times when you need help or support from medical professionals, we want to
be sure you can get that from your provider.

As you may know, sleep apnea can be life-threatening. People with sleep
apnea have higher chances of serious health problems like diabetes, high
blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and obesity. In addition, sleep apnea
causes symptoms like tiredness and headaches, to name a few. Treating sleep
apnea can improve these dangerous health problems and help people get relief
from their symptoms. However, people must use their therapy regularly in
order to receive the benefits.

Helping people get used to their therapy and use their equipment properly is
one of the biggest challenges for equipment providers. Studies have shown
that the more education and help patients receive from their healthcare
providers, the better they will do with therapy (1,2,3) Additionally,
studies have also shown that when patients are successful with their
therapy, their long-term healthcare costs are about 50% lower overall (4).

Educating patients and helping them get used to therapy can be
time-consuming and costly for medical equipment dealers. For dealers to care
for their patients properly, they need to have sufficient resources.
Charging a minimum price for the equipment they sell helps ensure they have
enough resources to support their patients. By giving their patients quality
care, dealers are ultimately helping patients save money on their healthcare
costs in the long run.

At ResMed, we are aware that the quality of patient care varies from dealer
to dealer. In the future, we are concerned that some dealers may sacrifice
patient care in order to cut costs. The risks are especially high with
internet dealers, as the internet can allow dealers to be anonymous and
shield them from patient complaints. For example, we have already been
contacted by patients who have ordered equipment online and received damaged
products but had no one to call to correct the problem. We have also heard
from patients who bought equipment online but were not told how to use it.
We want to do what we can to protect patients from these situations, and our
internet policies were designed for that purpose.

If you are not satisfied with the service and care you have received from
your equipment dealer, we urge you to talk to your doctor and/or sleep lab.
Your doctor and/or sleep lab can be an important check and balance on the
service your dealer provides. In addition, if a dealer is giving poor
patient service, your doctor should know in case they have other patients
who might also be affected.

ResMed's decision to impose stricter internet policies is a choice we made
in order to help protect patients now and in the future. As we have often
said, we are in the business of helping people and saving lives or, at
least, preventing premature deaths. In the case of our internet sales
policies, our goal is to promote and support high standards of patient care
well into the future.

ResMed Reception - USA

1 Sin et al. Chest 2002;121:430-435.
2 Aloaia et al. Sleep and Breathing 2001;5(1):13-21.
3 Chervin et al. Sleep 20(4):284-289.
4 Kryger et al. Sleep 1996;19(9):S111-S116.

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And that, took a 40% price raise to write that paper, it's lucky for us they didn't have to buy a stamp. Jim

At best it is marketing palaver.

I trust you don't expect them to do any different in a press release

D

The flaw in their logic is that "higher prices" do not necessarily translate into better care. The daily testimonials offered on this forum prove it. What they need to do is mandate "strict enforcement" of care standards offered by their dealers. If a ResMed products reseller is abusing it's customers then drop them as a dealer. This price increase has nothing to do with patient care and all to do with "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours"

Mr. ResMed... your not fooling us!

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this is almost comical as AL Gore inventing the Internet, save you 50% in health costs (4)???

that must be some down under fuzzy logic math at work there but probably true since most patients are now buying competitive equipment now that they have jacked up their prices by at least 40%.

then they site a 10yr old 1996 study?

How many did business with on-line cpap Internet suppliers going back to 1996?

I bet if you called them with a support question today like why isn't my Vantage a very good door stop? they would tell you to call your doctor as they are not able to give medical advice over the phone.

Now that is better support.

How many have read the posts where the DME rang the doorbell, didn't bring the right machine or mask with them, handed it to the patient and left. They were doing that for years and still charging insurance $1700-$3000 for a $500 machine.

Health care Insurance is now passing those inflated costs on to Employers and us subscribers everyday in the form of higher deductibles and monthly premiums for health care. Nice to see Resmed doing its part to control those rising costs.

I think this sleep industry has opened a lot of people's eyes to the problems associated with our health care system, if it is like this for the sleep industry, it is probably the same in every other medical industry.

Its a good ole boy network, otherwise insurance companies would be refusing to pay those ridiculous prices and allow the patient to get the equipment elsewhere to help control rising medical costs.

There is no justification for charging a patient $200+ for a mask that costs probably less than $5 to produce. When it has medical stamped on it, it becomes a legal license to steal.

Looks like cpap.com, the sponsor of this site and the clear leader in cpap Internet services and support was rejected by Resmed.

Whats up with that Resmed? What, you don't like CPAPTalk? Your actions are contrary to your words.

Your therapy is an important part of
your life. It helps you to improve your health and feel better. For those
times when you need help or support from medical professionals, we want to
be sure you can get that from your provider

By giving their patients quality
care, dealers are ultimately helping patients save money on their healthcare
costs in the long run.

If you are not satisfied with the service and care you have received from
your equipment dealer, we urge you to

.....

talk to your doctor and/or sleep lab.

And not to contact the wonderful company that it trying to make sure we get that quality care from our provider??? They don't even want to know?


O.

Dear Resmed,

You have grown into someone I no longer recognize. You were once so good, so very lovely.

Greed and pride drive you now. Lies and half truths are your tools. What you say and what you do are as far away as the East is from the West. You accuse falsely, persecute the good and harbor the bad. My shame is very great.

I beg you son, turn back to the days when you were a humble servant of the suffering. My heart was soaring then. Your name was great. It is not too late. Turn back!

Resmed's Moma

Bravo, Wading thru the Muck, Snoredog, Ozij, completelyhosed! The four of you have precisely summed up how illogical Resmed's explanation truly is.

I don't think Resmed is actually stupid enough to belive the story they're selling, but in a gross miscalculation of judgement, they assumed we would be stupid enough to buy it. Therein lies their greatest mistake. We will not go quietly into the night.

resmed's words look pretty on paper. But they don't translate well into the real world.

Reminds me of resmed's pride in the outcome of autopap comparison tests using an artificial "breathing" machine. Pretty on paper. Meaningless in the real world of how machines work with real patients.

I don't know which is worse. That resmed might really believe what it says (pathetic and unlikely) or that resmed believes intelligent people fall for their PR nonsense.

Or...most likely...they really don't care what anyone thinks, other than their REAL customers -- the brick and mortar DMEs.

rested gal wrote:I don't know which is worse. That resmed might really believe what it says (pathetic and unlikely) or that resmed believes intelligent people fall for their PR nonsense.

Or...most likely...they really don't care what anyone thinks, other than their REAL customers -- the brick and mortar DMEs.

I don't think Resmed views the general cpap-using public as being intelligent people. They think we are all like the typical brick and mortar DME customers who are ignorant, uninformed and uneducated about how the system works. Resmed's intention to destroy cpap internet retailing is weakly camouflaged. Those of us who know better and the cpap retailers who are fighting it must be a thorn in Resmed's side-- a much bigger thorn than Resmed ever anticipated.

completelyhosed wrote:Looks like cpap.com, the sponsor of this site and the clear leader in cpap Internet services and support was rejected by Resmed.

Rejected? We can still buy Resmed products from cpap.com.

First off, thank you so much MHS for posting this. Your service to our community remains inestimable!!!

Regarding ResMed's e-mail, its lamentable that they chose to justify their obviously commercially motivated move to increase internet prices by arguing it in the "good patient care" domain. I, and many others here, have had ATROCIOUS and unforgiveably poor "patient care" at the hands of our brick and mortar DMEs. In my nearly 7 months of xPAP treatment, I have NEVER been contacted by my DME to inquire about my course and progress, whether the stuff is working, or even if I'm using it!!! I have NEVER been contacted about changing or cleaning filters, or whether I needed any new supplies. I once called to ask for a new cushion for my Activa when I decided to switch from a shallow to a large, and after five weeks of receiving nothing, I finally called them back only to be told that they didn't carry cushions any longer. And, I now believe that there is an essential flaw in the set-up they provided me, which I'll post about in a separate thread.

What I belive IS the truth is that ResMed chose to protect their brick and mortar sleep lab/DME distribution channel, and sacrifice their internet distribution channel, for strictly commercial reasons. I've become far too cynical to expect any genuine candor these days, but their e-mail is frankly insulting. Better that they had said "Tough beans! If you don't like it, lump it!! We'll still make our money off the waves of suckers referred to our DMEs everday!!!" At least I wouldn't have felt trivialized by their estimation that I was SO STUPID that I would grant ANY credence to their ridiculous "patient care" nonsense.

I have been a defender of ResMed because of what I believed was their scientific candor and conscientious human factors design. Their insulting and gratuitous post however, has destroyed that loyalty. But in honesty, I'd have expected nothing more from a corporation in today's culture.

Chuck

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GoofyUT wrote:I have been a defender of ResMed because of what I believed was their scientific candor and conscientious human factors design. Their insulting and gratuitous post however, has destroyed that loyalty.

I was going to write something like that but you said it better than I could. They have disappointed me too.

I totally agree GoofyUT said it better than I ever could.

I did however email a copy of the letter (top of the thread) back to ResMed and ask if they really wrote this "doggy do-do".

While I know they will ignore me and could care less how I feel, I don't care. It made me feel better to tell them I would never buy their stuff again.

Now I will just do my part to make sure newbies are made aware of this price action as much as possible and they can do as they see fit.