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DreamDiver wrote:ApriaRT,We haven't heard back from you. ... - you'll see that there are very few positive interactions with this company. Oddly, there has been no attempt by the company to explain why they charge the way they do. I think it might be an eye-opener for us if it were explained properly -

simple its all about money Really. apria has a captive audience they have their contracts setup so you either put up with the bs or buy it yourself. simple
the love of money is the root of all evil, Really

Really wrote:.........simple
the love of money is the root of all evil, Really

Not quite. Government has its very heavy hand in there. DMEs are heavily regulated and this is what causes such a distorted market.

Throw the regulations out and we will soon be happily and cheaply getting all of our equipment and supplies at WalMart, Best Buy, and cpap.com.

i find it hard to believe they do it only cuz they can Really

Apria is probably the worst run company I have ever seen.
I have had deliveries after 11 PM after waiting all day for them. My wife had an overnight Oxygen Test. The RT picked up the equipment and put it in the trunk of her car and left on vacation. Nobody could find it and it had to be redone. The list goes on! Stay away from them if you can!

pjswede wrote

Apria is probably the worst run company I have ever seen

My experiences (2006 & 2009) exactly although I would not use "probably" - Apria is the worst.

My experience with Apria so far has been OK. I'm new to CPAP and the whole DME thing. The only DME in my area that my insurance used in New Hampshire was Apria, so it was that or purchase online myself. I had read some stuff about DME's here and was hesitant to get involved. When Apria called about getting me my equipment they offered to try to do it as a purchase with the insurance company instead of a rental like normal, to try to save me some money. They were able to get pre-approval through the insurance company and my 20% ended up being $180. This was great because I lost my insurance just after getting the equipment. From what I understand they gave me decent equipment: I got a Respironics M-Series Pro C-Flex with heated humidifier, with the smart card. This worked out well, because I lost my insurance shortly after. I won't be doing anything else with Apria now that I don't have insurance, because I can purchase stuff online for so much cheaper.

When I started cpap, I got equipment from Apria, and , other than providing the equipment, they did nothing, and charged the insurance company outrageous amounts. So much, that I managed to exceed the insurance company's allotment for medical equipment one year. So I decided , rather than give the money to Apria, I'd just buy the equipment myself

When I realized I could pick up the self same equipment fro about 2 months rental fees on cpap auction, I just did so. It seems to me the whole process of interacting with the DME is easily bypassed. They serve a useful function when you are new to the problem and don't know what to use.. but once you know what you need, IMO, dump them.

The most useful interactions I've had, has been in this forum. Several users helped me to get and use the software fro the bipap that, in turn, convinced me to use the device more consistently.

Apria charges $264 per montyh for my rental which is rediculous, however, my United Healthcare Medicare Plan only pays them $61 per month.

I have never ever had a problem with Apria. When I call them for supplies --they send me whatever I asked them for--I am wondering why so many people say that they have problems with them?

Carrie

sleeplessinaz wrote:I have never ever had a problem with Apria. When I call them for supplies --they send me whatever I asked them for--I am wondering why so many people say that they have problems with them?

Carrie

ONLY reason is - Because they do!!

Honestly, Apria is the DME that I've been having such trouble with the past week (mentioned in another thread, this is the company I was referring to).

I begged and pleaded for them to come out to my home to set up the equipment. I told the tech that I spoke to on the phone that their location was way across town and that I couldn't get there during the day. And, since they don't have weekend hours, taking off time from work was the only way I could use them. I asked if an exception could be made for them to come out to me. No. That's not how they work.

So, I called my insurance company and got the name of a more local DME.

Low and behold, when Apria found out I was going to have to go with someone else, rules could be changed after all.

Not only that, but the tech didn't know what a "fully data capable machine" meant. Nor could anyone there give me model numbers or types of the equipment that they have.

Many here, in my other thread, told me to be very careful about the DME that was doing this. If this is how they are before I even get my machine, what are they going to do afterwards?

I'll try to find that thread and link to it, so you can see the headaches I've had with Apria.

ETA: Here's the thread: viewtopic/t45862/Its-useless-isnt-it-.html

Am I happy camper with Apria? No I am not! Apria decided what kind of equipment I was to receive. When I called for an "appointment" to see the RT to review how to get the humidifier to work they got me in quickly. But he advised me that I needed a superduper upgrade. So I requested from my ENT a new script which he fax'ed over promptly. Because the RT fiddled with the humidifier on this visit it started working. The tech that came to my home did not know how to teach me how to interface the Escape to the H4i because she did not know how to herself. I called the RT 4 times to request that the new equipment order be cancelled . After 2 weeks the RT returned my call .
Then I tried to order items for the ResMed cpap but they sent me parts for a Remstar! I thought they had this in a computer somewhere - over the rainbow?? Apria wins the rolling eyes award .

Well it is 2011 and they are still by far the worse company I have ever dealt with - much less a DME company.

It is clear they grab the gonads and hold on. I have been trying to resolve a billing issue since June and have yet to get it resolved. I keep working my way up the "supervisory' ranks -- my next stop the the Regional VP in California. I have been working with the regional office for the last month and just when I get a glimmer of hope - BAM... OK I have run across one or two people that have acutally been somewhat helpful, but they are not consistent in their follow up.

They were kind enough to send to collections a charge for a wrong filter that I was told to not return because of 'for the money it wasn't worth it' and the sent the right filter the next day

Maybe they have so many complaints that I'm # 1,376,584 and I'm still waiting my turn.

Should change their name to 'Gonadapria' ~ that does sound like it is from India, doesn't it ??? !!!

Just a reminder after 2 yrs...

This was a nice idea but they must have cut the budget after -
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#1

ApriaRT wrote:Hello to all! I am a RT with Apria Healthcare in Virginia. I have been involved with sleep for 20 years now and have been using cpap myself for the last 3 years. I am new to this site and have been reading through to see what cpap users are saying about Apria. I will tell everybody that Apria is working very hard to improve our overall service to sleep customers. I would like to hear good or bad and I am open to suggestions to improve our service to you. How can we better serve you? What would you like to see done to improve your experience with us? One last note, I cant fix the billing process and I can assure you that dealing with insurances and receiving payment from them is just as painful for us as it is you!

#2

ApriaRT wrote:Thanks for the feedback and I couldnt agree with you more Rested Gal! I dont want to give away any specific details on what we are doing to improve compliance but I will tell you that compliance and outcomes data is the future of our industry. To your mask comment, absolutely in the first 30 days is our opportunity to get the right mask on the customer, if changes need to be made, we as the provider need to drive it and thats where the appropriate follow up needs to be performed so we catch these things early on. To your ahi/leak machines comment, sometimes we are bound by our payors requirement to provide a certain type of unit because they want to keep their cost down. I do see this changing in the future however. Thanks again for the feedback, it is appreciated!

Go figure!!