An Honest R.T. at My Local DME

So I'm trying to get my new machine (I'm a new patient) and the DME that I WAS working with wanted to sell me an M Series Plus. I said that I wanted a Pro because of the smartcard feature. The RT that I had been speaking with talked to his higher-ups and came back to tell me they couldn't sell me what I wanted. I asked him why, and he told me it was simply because they wouldn't make any money from it. I said, "So, it's dollars over my health with your company?" I told him that I appreciated his honesty and that I was happy to discover their lack of integrity now rather than later.

end of rant...

which DME was it? Post the name so we can all avoid it (thus giving credibility to your post).

Guest wrote:which DME was it? Post the name so we can all avoid it (thus giving credibility to your post).

Sparrow Regional Medical Supply
Mt. Pleasant, MI

eutychus wrote:So I'm trying to get my new machine (I'm a new patient) and the DME that I WAS working with wanted to sell me an M Series Plus. I said that I wanted a Pro because of the smartcard feature. The RT that I had been speaking with talked to his higher-ups and came back to tell me they couldn't sell me what I wanted. I asked him why, and he told me it was simply because they wouldn't make any money from it. I said, "So, it's dollars over my health with your company?" I told him that I appreciated his honesty and that I was happy to discover their lack of integrity now rather than later.

end of rant...

Soooo.....did you get a Pro? You have one pictured in your profile.

I just recently found out that one of the local DMEs gave (at least) one of my co-workers an M Series Pro a few months ago after her sleep study. I'm not sure if it's their SOP (Standard Operational Procedure) now or if the sleep lab/doctor prescribed it, but this was also the same DME that I borrowed the overnight pulse oximeter from 3 1/2 yrs. ago and showed them my reports from Encore Pro. Maybe I'll stop in there one of these days and try to find out.....and thank them.

Den

Wulfman, yes, the second place I contacted had no problem with me getting the Pro - it sounds like it just might be their SOP. Hopefully I'll be getting set up tomorrow (Thurs) - they're even coming out to my house to set me up.

It strikes me that armed with some equipment knowledge beforehand and the willingness to change DME's would just about weed out those who aren't willing to provide the best for their patients. I found the same story with my former DME resisting me every step of the way while my new one is very eager to make to easy for me to get supplies and when the time comes for a replacement machine I anticipate they will do likewise.

eutychus wrote:Wulfman, yes, the second place I contacted had no problem with me getting the Pro - it sounds like it just might be their SOP. Hopefully I'll be getting set up tomorrow (Thurs) - they're even coming out to my house to set me up.

GREAT! I'm glad to hear you got another DME that was willing to get you a data-capable machine. (make sure to double-check the words on top of the machine, though)

I think EVENTUALLY, that if enough DME shops are given the option of making a smaller amount of profit, or.....NONE....they'll be more inclined to help their customers rather than to help themselves (with higher profits).
OK, maybe I'm being a little delusional, here.

I also forgot to mention in the previous post, that the local DME had also not removed the "Setup" instruction card out of the package, either. (My co-worker brought the plastic bag with the manuals in it to work so I could see what she was given.)

Den

My DME, the only one my HMO will deal with (and the one they're part-owners of), got my prescription for a BiPAP with heated humidification from the sleep clinic before either I or my doctor did. I'd already found out from the HMO that, while they pay 80% of the cost of the machine, that means I'd be pay a total of $500 over just over six months to RENT the machine, and at the end of the six months, the DME (not me!) would still OWN the machine. The humidifier, though, would be a purchase.

(Yes, I'm looking at machines at cpapauction!)

That said, the rep from the DME told me they had two machines in stock, the M-series BiPAP Plus and the VPAP Auto, but that they could get different machines, too. When I called back two weeks later, he said that yes, the M-series BiPAP Auto would rent for the same amount, and that yes, I could get get one--they even had one in stock.

So that was thing in their favor.

Still, I didn't ask if these machines were new. I mean, I didn't want to just rent, anyway. Still, even if I did rent, I'd want a new machine that would cost me the same amount. After all, if I had to get a different machine, I think I'd wind up paying the $500 (my 20%) all over again.

And I didn't ask what their price would be if I were to purchase the machine without going through my HMO. The figures they gave me were the manufacturer's suggested retail prices--which is what they and the HMO apparently use to figure the cost and percentages. (I'm sure cpap.com's prices on Respironics machines are way, way better!)

But at least the DME was willing to get me any BiPAP that fit the prescription.

Nath

I would double and triple check that answer from your HMO that at the end of 5 months the DME would still own the xPAP. It doesn't make sense that an insurance company would pay 80% of the cost of the device, that your 20% copay would be $100 a month for the 5 months and that you would not own the xPAP free and clear at the end of the 5 months. I'd call that HMO back and climb up the ladder until I found someone who really does know what they are talking about!!!! I'm willing to bet that at the end of 5 months that xPAP becomes YOUR SOLE POSSESSION, NOT the DME supplier's! That would be sheer stupidity on the HMO's part to enter into an agreement such as you've described!!!!

Slinky wrote:I would double and triple check that answer from your HMO that at the end of 5 months the DME would still own the xPAP. It doesn't make sense that an insurance company would pay 80% of the cost of the device, that your 20% copay would be $100 a month for the 5 months and that you would not own the xPAP free and clear at the end of the 5 months. [ . . . ] That would be sheer stupidity on the HMO's part to enter into an agreement such as you've described!!!!

Yep, I agree, Slinky!

I'm actually planning on calling the HMO again today. The rep at the DME said he'd heard they were considering changing that ownership thing. The only way it makes sense to me is that the HMO is par-owner of the DME. Even then, it seems crazy. It could be that's the line they give people until they've established compliance. Who knows.

I'll try to report again after I've talked with them. I'd pretty much told the customer service folks that I would buy my own machine rather than rent, especially from the house DME. But maybe today they'll tell me something different.

And other than that, they're a pretty good HMO. They're great when it comes to my wife's hearing aids, so you'd THINK they'd be good about CPAP stuff, too. . . .

nath

it'll be intersting to see how many DMEs will still be in the CPAP business in the future if none of them are allowed to make a profit (according to some of you).
Maybe if you all just paid cash at the DME, things could be best. Why bother with insurance for something that saves your life and is less than $1000 in most cases?

Oh h*ll, theDean, I don't begrudge the local DME suppliers a profit - as long as they earn the extra they charge by providing the education and support that is the REASON they say they have to charge more for their xPAPs for. Online DME suppliers have to make a profit on the xPAPs they sell too so don't hand me the local DME supplier's crying towel unless they put forth the effort to EARN their extra cost of the xPAPs they sell. IF the locals, and I stress the IF, actually provide the education and support they are supposed to it is a much wiser and better choice for first time CPAPpers to go with the locals. Its the IF that is the crux of the issue.

Guest wrote:it'll be intersting to see how many DMEs will still be in the CPAP business in the future if none of them are allowed to make a profit (according to some of you).
Maybe if you all just paid cash at the DME, things could be best. Why bother with insurance for something that saves your life and is less than $1000 in most cases?

It'll also be interesting to see who's still in business if and when the economy collapses.....I'm still predicting it will.
There ARE (right NOW) and will probably be more people who don't/won't have insurance coverage in the not-too-distant future. THEN what will happen? Maybe everybody will have to lower their prices.....Hmmmm???

"INSURANCE" is just a socialist conspiracy, anyway.

Den

Slinky, maybe you should befriend a local DME (one on your approved list) and ask to see his books. Ask to see what expenses a real DME has (trucks, oxygen tanks, inventory, RT on staff, maintenence, etc.). Ask what profit he "should" make on a CPAP and mask. The 'experts' on this forum who get it make up about 0.3% of all CPAP patients. The others depend on their local DME.

thedean wrote:it'll be intersting to see how many DMEs will still be in the CPAP business in the future if none of them are allowed to make a profit (according to some of you).
Maybe if you all just paid cash at the DME, things could be best. Why bother with insurance for something that saves your life and is less than $1000 in most cases?

I hope every one of the rip-off sons a bitches go out of business including slimeballs like you. It is their lobbying efforts that got MAP pricing in place by Resmed and Respironics yet that didn't impact anyone with insurance coverage, didn't change a single thing other than cost people without insurance coverage more by increasing your greedy profits.

I hope your DME shack burns to the ground or floods to the ceiling.