How can anyone trust the DME ppl!? ranting a bit

Thanks Marsha!

My experience with Am Home Patient wasn't nearly as bad as yours with lincare but they did attempt to give me a rem star plus and told me it was fully data capable. When I insisted it wasn't and gave them a list of the ones I would accept, I was eventually offered the resmed vantage which they told me didn't record anything more than the plus. I knew better from spending my time on the various web forums. I also had to use an O2 meter for a couple nights to check out my destats and they gave me one with re-chargable batteries that lasted all of 5mins. I switched them out with some good ones and used the thing for the required 2 nights before taking it back in. Got an earful from the RT telling me I probably screwed up the settings by removing the batteries, yet my sleep doc still got the data she was looking for. All in all, I just am not that comfortable with the place and will be checking out Am Home Medical when my current mask needs replaced.

I'm glad you got a good one, but switching is not as easy as all that. If I switch, the rental clock with the insurance starts all over again and I'm almost done with it. The sleep doctor/lab here for some reason cannot recommend any DME. They just hand the patient a list and say good luck.

Debjax wrote:There are greate DME's out there, if your's is bad, try to find another. I got blessed, the sleep doc the cardiologist referred us to is fantastic and thorough, the DME the sleep doc prefers is the same. I can't say enough about my RT. She delivered a Quattro to my workplace the other day. She did not want to just hand it to me, but came back to my office, and fit the mask for me, to make sure it was the right size and fit correctly. She explained what she was doing while fitting it, and since my husband works at the same place and will be getting his own machine later this month (his titration is the 23rd), she explained it all to him also. We are still trying to get the "right" mask for me for daily use, and she is very patient with my requests for "can I try it in a smaller cushion", "are there other options", etc.

I figured that I would have to go out of pocket for the Quattro, since it is a "second mask", but I think she is comping that one to me.....she certainly wouldn't let me write her a check....

Guest wrote:I'm glad you got a good one, but switching is not as easy as all that. If I switch, the rental clock with the insurance starts all over again and I'm almost done with it. The sleep doctor/lab here for some reason cannot recommend any DME. They just hand the patient a list and say good luck.

What insurance do you have? I know from reading and research that if using Medicare the docs are strongly recommended to NOT recommend DME's to avoid any appearance of misconduct. When you get done with the rental, maybe you'll have an easier time switching.

Too bad there isn't some type of service or system where DME's can be rated and researched so patients can make educated and informed decisions instead of hitting luck of the draw.

Debjax wrote:Too bad there isn't some type of service or system where DME's can be rated and researched so patients can make educated and informed decisions instead of hitting luck of the draw.

That is an Excellent Idea. I would fully participate in a website established for that. I've seen the same concept at use in several other forums that I participate in.

Sort by state, then by area...rating of 1 to 5 with a section for comments!

The most critical part of the whole thing is letting the DME know that such a thing exists and you plans to rate them.

Guest wrote:I'm glad you got a good one, but switching is not as easy as all that. If I switch, the rental clock with the insurance starts all over again and I'm almost done with it. The sleep doctor/lab here for some reason cannot recommend any DME. They just hand the patient a list and say good luck.

If you try to switch and get a new machine, your rental clock doesn't necessarily start over again...mine didn't anyway. Tricare will only pay rental for a certain number of months and/or up to a specified amount (not clear on this as I've gotten different answers from Tricare!). So when I returned my first machine to my first DME, Tricare informed me that since they had paid one month on my "rent to own" plan they would not pay the entire amount of my new machine. Which makes sense to me. I'll just have to pay the $100 or so bucks at the end of the rental period when my allotted money runs out. I was willing to do that to get away from the first DME people and their malfunctioning machine.

Also, you can switch and start getting masks and supplies from a different DME than the one holding your rental contract/providing the machine(s). My husband and I have done that, keeping our rentals with Apria and going to Walgreens/OptionsCare (thanks, Babs, for the recommendation). We are hoping that W/OC turns out to be better than the previous three we've tried....

BTW, the first DME I went to was the "preferred provider" for the sleep center and they were the absolute worst we've dealt with. Worse than Lincare, who my husband had to deal with for 5 years!

OP - thank you for posting this! I thought it was my imagination that my DME didn't know diddly but it seems to be the norm. I asked one time what sort of education he had and he squirmed and hemmed and hawed and never did answer me!!! I can't imagine the doctor would approve of them telling the patient to come back another day for his machine! Maybe it should be reported to the doctor.

Squeakywheels wrote:Ok so this might be a bit off topic but I just couldnt resist when I saw the DME topic come up. I have had a nightmare with DMEs in the past with my wheelchair. My last one "forgot" to put the bolt holding my arm rest to my chair back on (needless to say 1 nasty fall later that night) and then took 2 months to call me back to take care of the damaged arm rest. I also had signed up for RT there so I could get new headgear and well, its been since Aug and even after weekly calls to them, they still do not return phone calls. I since found a new DME and am hoping they are better.

Thanks for posting this Squeaky. On this forum we tend to forget that they screw up more than just us CPAP patients.