Getting official medical help with osa and sp02 levels?

90 % of why I see the doctor is INSURANCE.
10% is so he will be helpful when--and if I need it.

Ditto! Jim

ravenous28 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 22, 2019 5:37 pm

What exactly does it take to get your prescription from your doctor? Can they deny giving it to you or do they have to by law if you had an in lab sleep study proven you have osa? Does the prescription ever expire or is it good for life? What about a person who has proven osa, tried cpap failed the trail 7 yrs ago on insurance, can they be denied by the doctor the prescription if they wanted to come back to cpap or do you have to get another proven sleep study done yet again in lab? From what I understand, my doctor said it’s frowned upon not going through the insurance and going rouge because you need them to give you the supplies and support needed..

The dr has to give you your records and prescription Under the HIPPA federal law if you formally ask for them they my make you fill out some forms

ravenous28 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 22, 2019 9:57 pm

So really all I need to do is call my dr office and tell them I want a copy of my prescription from 2012 for my cpap and if shouldn’t be a problem... that’s all I was basically trying to figure out...

Ask to speak to someone in "Records". If that person balks, tell them it is your legal right and you expect her to mail you a copy. If that doesn't work, go with Pugsy's recommendation of a registered letter.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 23, 2019 8:52 am

ravenous28 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 22, 2019 9:57 pm

So really all I need to do is call my dr office and tell them I want a copy of my prescription from 2012 for my cpap and if shouldn’t be a problem... that’s all I was basically trying to figure out...

Ask to speak to someone in "Records". If that person balks, tell them it is your legal right and you expect her to mail you a copy. If that doesn't work, go with Pugsy's recommendation of a registered letter.

Thanks guys that’s all I wanted to know. I didn’t know the whole rules and stuff on getting my own prescription because I thought I couldn’t get it because my doctor marked me down as failing the cpap trail in 2012. I thought the dr would have to have me down as passed in order to get my own prescription to ever buy my own cpap online. I’ll call them on Monday and see what they say.. I know I can buy outright on eBay etc too

ravenous28 wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 23, 2019 5:10 pm

I’ll call them on Monday

Let us know how things go.

ravenous28 wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 23, 2019 5:10 pm

I know I can buy outright on eBay etc too

My best deals have been found by asking forum members for help.

Left a voicemail with medical records and told them I’d like a copy of my prescription to cpap from 2012. The recording said it could take up to 72 hrs to get a response back from someone... chances are I’ll probably have to go in and fill out paperwork for the release but I’ll see what she says...

Nope they won’t give it to me. She said it expires every year based upon medical rules and the said dr would be liable if god forbid the machine was set to the wrong numbers and something were to happen to me. In order for me to get a prescription legally I would need to follow up with a sleep dr at this point who then puts me back on the cpap to verify I’m in compliance, then from there I can get a valid prescription from the doctor. She also said, if I go out and buy my own cpap rouge, I’m outside the support group and no doctor will be willing to help me in the future.

I don’t know if the rules vary by state but that’s what I was told here in Pa about how this process works. I guess the moral of the story here is, if you fail cpap trail and years later want to come back, you basically will need to dr shop around to get proper approval. Personally, I feel like my pcp dr is doing me a great disservice by not admitting me at least try another trail. Now I have to find and pay for another dr, pay and do another in lab test again for titration and pay the down payment on a rented cpap to prove I’m in compliance if I want to be on cpap legitimately. I can’t imagine what they would say about this website forum. This is why I asked this question, I had a funny feeling i was going to be I a mess trying to get official medical help on cpap. Sure, I have a machine for but Im potentially putting my life at risk I was told if I go about this on my own. Basically, I will be frowned upon by any future drs I guess if I do my own sleep apnea treatment with cpap. I’m disgusted how cpap companies and the medical doctors have such a lockdown on this. Either I go rouge or I fish up the money to get back on cpap the way the doctors want it to be.

Medical records never expire....now prescriptions might but the records that proved the need for the RX in the first place never expire or change and you have a right to those records which should include the "expired" RX.
It's against HIPPA regulations for them to deny you a copy of your records.

True, but I can’t ever buy my own cpap machine in the future from cpap.com or other places considering it’s expired and even if I got a valid prescription it only last a year and will still take multiple follow ups with a pcp to be marked down compliance with them. Then after that, you can get your own prescription. But she basically said good luck with finding a dr willing to still help you out if you go that route. If the machine dies years later you gotta go through a whole cycle all over again to even get it yourself.(unless you buy rouge on eBay) I’m sure it’s no problem though if you use a dme because they are the legal compliance check for the dr not being liable for your misuse. I guess I’m just bummed about this because I thought once you have a prescription in for cpap it would pretty much be valid for life but it’s not still required the dr to check off on it.

Now I have to make a choice at this point which way I want to go. The way I see it, is I’m done with this dr. The fact that he’s forcing me to go and pay for another dr just to even even try the cpap again nothing but more money spent and more sleep labs.

You get your records...then you find another doctor who is happy with those records proving need for cpap...then you get that doctor to write an open RX without expiration date on it.
There are doctors who will do this...and maybe even online...I need to check on that...I saw it somewhere but I forget where.
Anyone who can legally write prescriptions can do it....NP...MD...DO...PA...dentist...hell, even a vet (dog/cat doctor) can do it.

And yeah...tell this current doctor to kiss your ass goodbye.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:18 am

You get your records...then you find another doctor who is happy with those records proving need for cpap...then you get that doctor to write an open RX without expiration date on it.
There are doctors who will do this...and maybe even online...I need to check on that...I saw it somewhere but I forget where.
Anyone who can legally write prescriptions can do it....NP...MD...DO...PA...dentist...hell, even a vet (dog/cat doctor) can do it.

And yeah...tell this current doctor to kiss your ass goodbye.

Amen to that.

ravenous28 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:19 am

And yeah...tell this current doctor to kiss your ass goodbye.

Possibly, it's just some biotch in the office and the doctor doesn't have a clue what is being said to you.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:18 am

even a vet (dog/cat doctor) can do it.

I assume that's how TangledHose got his equipment.

TangledHose

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:14 pm

Possibly, it's just some biotch in the office and the doctor doesn't have a clue what is being said to you.

I know this can be true but how I look at it is this....the buck stops with the doctor and he is the one ultimately responsible for what his hired help does. If he gets the fame he also gets the blame.

ravenous28 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:17 am

Nope they won’t give it to me. She said it expires every year based upon medical rules and the said dr would be liable if god forbid the machine was set to the wrong numbers and something were to happen to me. In order for me to get a prescription legally I would need to follow up with a sleep dr at this point who then puts me back on the cpap to verify I’m in compliance, then from there I can get a valid prescription from the doctor. She also said, if I go out and buy my own cpap rouge, I’m outside the support group and no doctor will be willing to help me in the future.

That is a total crock. A good Dr wants their patient to take an active role in managing their own health. If it were me, I would march down to the Dr and request a copy of my medical records and tell him/her I am shopping for a new Dr. Or better yet, make an appt so you can speak directly with the Dr. and avoid the staff altogether.