CPAPtalk.com

You did say you were typing on your phone so I can understand the typos. Hope what you've learned here will be put to good use helping others who need your services.

Mike....it's nice you care enough to post on this forum...don't take anything personal you read here....a good policy for all internet forums.
I have major medical that has a 5 thousand dollar deductable. I figure I can foot the bill for general stuff I just need insurance for the major stuff.

I probably still wouldn't be using cpap..given my initial outlay could have run 5 grand..if my daughter hadn't taken it upon herself to get ideas from this forum and then pick up a machine for me. I have been compliant since day one and with the help of software and this forum I have dialed in the pressure and mask that gives me the best AHI numbers. I am pretty confident my way is a better way FOR ME, than trying to determine a number from a sleep study that would have stressed me out for a night and probably resulted in little to no sleep and therefore very inaccurate numbers.

Some resourceful people build houses for themselves, manage their own investments, repair their own cars, grow their own food in a garden, do their own taxes, manage their own cpap treatment and millions of other things without the help of professionals....and do just fine.

I think we are giving this guy a bit of a hard time. Assume for a minute that he is a conscientious DME. He probably deals with several kinds of CPAP patients.

1. There is the patient that picks up the equipment, goes home and has no problems from day 1.
2. There is the patient that picks up the equipments, goes home, has a minor problem and puts the CPAP machine in the closet.
3. There is the patient that picks up the equipment, goes home, has problems, struggles and never gets effective treatment.
4. Then there is this crowd that is COMMITTED to receiving effective treatment, even if they have to learn how to provide it for themselves (with the help of this forum!).

Apparently he had never run into the Class 4 patient before.

Mike@TibroMedical wrote:For those that have dealt with bad DME's. Have you ever complained to your ins? About the lack of service your getting but that the ins pays for?

Yep. Fat lot o' good it did me. My insurance contracts with just one DME, so I have no choice among equipment providers, or I'd certainly find another.

Here are two examples of the crap my DME pulls:

1. At my insistence, I got a scrip from my doctor's office last March for a data-capable machine. Took it to my DME personally and was practically laughed out of the office. "Your insurance won't pay for THAT." I told them to just submit the scrip. Did I ever get a data-capable machine? Nope. Did I receive an approval or denial from my insurance? Nope. Did the DME submit the scrip to my insurance? Nope.

2. When I was due for a new mask a few months back, I called the DME and said I wanted to try the Swift LT and the Swift LT for Her. The RT said, "You can't just try on several masks. I have no way to clean them, so once you try one on, you own it." (What kind of bullsh*t is that? As if the DME would have to "eat" that mask that I didn't choose.) I know better, so I contacted the Area Manager, but even he gave me a hard time about switching masks. ("Once you find a mask that works for you, you stick with it." I'd been using the Swift II but liked the design improvements in the LT, which has now become my mask of choice, btw.)

Your company is obviously head and shoulders above most (if not all) other DMEs, when it comes to customer service. Be proud of that, because it's unusual (as you're learning here).

our goal is to be the size of lincare. praxair for example within a couple years. last year we grew 60% and spread local offices to a few mid east states. we're on our way

Mike@TibroMedical wrote:our goal is to be the size of lincare. praxair for example within a couple years. last year we grew 60% and spread local offices to a few mid east states. we're on our way

Cool. Just don't lose that good customer service when you become a giant in the industry.

So, what states are you in now? And when will you be expanding into Arizona?

orbit has offices in UT, ID, 2 in IL, then one in both MI and IN. Now the sister company tibro only has one office and it's main focus is setting supplies for pt's that have machine's through other companys but dont get the service they need. and we do those drop ship meaning anywhere in the country!

reading this post proves to me that i'm on the right track... i just started my CPAP therapy 3 days ago. thus inspired, i learned this afternoon how to set my own pressure. even though i haven't actually changed the settings yet, i'm learning how to read the data that i unlcoked on the machine (based on my subjective feeling and the data, i've had a 90% reduction in my apnea symptoms) Soon I'll get the software & card reader.

lebowski8 wrote:reading this post proves to me that i'm on the right track... i just started my CPAP therapy 3 days ago. thus inspired, i learned this afternoon how to set my own pressure. even though i haven't actually changed the settings yet, i'm learning how to read the data that i unlcoked on the machine (based on my subjective feeling and the data, i've had a 90% reduction in my apnea symptoms) Soon I'll get the software & card reader.

Awesome! I am starting to think that due to my patient base being all old people that this is why I've never run into pt's that are eager to learn. We have a much younger generation on this site, all of which are comfortable with using a computer. LOL my grandparents hate their computer, they only use it when they HAVE to.

Hey, define old. There are some seniors here, so be careful.

Catnapper wrote:Hey, define old. There are some seniors here, so be careful.

Heh, heh. I think Mike's giving away HIS (generational) age......when he mentioned his grandparents.

One of the discount chain stores in my area offers "senior" discounts to those people 55 and over.


Den

LOL 80% of my pt's are 65-100+ I hope I didn't make anyone mad I wasn't talking down on them there are people here I am sure that are in that age group that wanted to learn about there data. Those people I am willing to bet are comfortable with using computers though. So a card download isn't complicated to them.

mike --

from me (and i'm sure many others here) it's nothing personal. so like a cold climate inion you'll want to grow a thick skin, if ya stick around here . hope ya do . alll input is good.

if you are as you say and do as you say then for the most part you're the exception.

as you read on in the forums you'll see that mostly it's the system that is screwwed up. and you're profession is just a part . i have a decent dme but can't afford it. i like keeping my money local but the big buisness has pretty much taken that and the service out of the folks that run it at the local level. in talking with the former owner who now works for the big AP- - - , it was a matter of close down or get bought out. liability insurance and vehicle costs were the straw that broke the camels back. big buisness is as scarry to some here as big brother-especially when dealing with prescriptions and regulations. just not much understanding.. that's where the education in a friendly way reaches far and wide.(why we come here)

payying a little extra for good service is not a problem but the standard of service has to be there. but i emphasize the word little. no one wants poor service at a high price.

Mike@TibroMedical wrote:LOL 80% of my pt's are 65-100+ I hope I didn't make anyone mad I wasn't talking down on them there are people here I am sure that are in that age group that wanted to learn about there data. Those people I am willing to bet are comfortable with using computers though. So a card download isn't complicated to them.

Some people track data without using computer software, by using the lcd screen on their blower. So computer literacy is NOT needed to track data. Reading nightly leak rate and AHI is, imo, easier on my ResMed than heating up water in my microwave. The software gives more data, sure, and that can be useful, but it is not necessary for checking nightly/weekly/monthly/etc efficacy.

Mike@TibroMedical wrote:We have a much younger generation on this site, all of which are comfortable with using a computer. LOL my grandparents hate their computer, they only use it when they HAVE to.

My Dad bought himself a brand new computer, monitor, and laser printer for his 80th birthday. Then said I was going to teach him how to use it. I looked at him sideways and said, "Uh, Dad, do you remember how well we got along when you were teaching me how to drive?" To which he said, "Hmm..." and signed himself up for a couple of classes. He's now 84.