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Christine....you'll have to forgive us. Many here in this forum have had some pretty terrible experiences with our local DME. Last month I fired my DME. After charging my Insurance company $395.00 for 1 mask, 1 cpap hose and 1 plastic humidifier Chamber.....I decided to take my business elsewhere. These items priced online totaled ($100+ free hose + $23) $123.00. I questioned my DME about their pricing practices. They claimed the extra charge was for the personal service they provided. Hummmm Looking through my records I also discovered the charges for my Bipap machine ($1,200 online) totaled over $5,100. Give me a break !! So....Christine, it's stories like mine that have people foaming at the mouth when we discuss DMEs. Shoooo Weeee I feel better now.

Rich

Muck,

Years ago my brother who was a physician told us that when the insurance companies got involved, there was going to be "trouble in River City." Consequently he did not encourage his children to enter the medical field.

I was told by my RT that her company joined a group of other companies in order to purchase Respironics products at a lower cost.

I have to agree with Muck about the lack of help. I left a message on my therapists answering machine when my Cpap stopped working shortly after I received it. I didn't get a response for 6 days. She said I should have let someone else know but no one bothered to tell me that she was out sick!


RT Christine,

Are you the one who places the orders for replacement parts for your company? It is hard to get in touch with my RT as she is either on calls or out sick. The business manager says I have to order through the RT. It seems that one should be able to deal with a person who stays in the office and is available. The next time my order does not get sent I feel that my only recourse is to get in touch with the owner. Is this what you would recommend?

Is it usually the physician or the DME that decides whether or not a client will get something like a machine with c-flex? I didn't see the prescription as it was faxed to the DME.


Re Setting Your Respironics Cpap, see http://www.apneaboard.com.

I can't say what other companies do as far as who orders equipment, but my boss mainly does it. It depends on what you want. If it's something generic like tubing or humidity chambers, or if you just need a replacement for the mask (using the same one that you had previously), my boss can do that. However, if you're wanting to try something new, that's where I come in. And if you were to call while I was out seeing a patient, I am very good about calling people back that day. Also, I"m off all next week, but we have another location not too far away so that if something came up, the therapist there could take care of you. I'm sorry that you've had bad experiences with the therapists in your DME companies- there's really no excuse for it, but I know some locations are overrun with patients without enough help. I have 170 patients and that's perfect for me. Some locations have 500 with only 1 therapist. Again, not making excuses, but that's the way it is.

I am ALSO caught in this Catch-22 quagmire. I've been using the CPAP since 1999. My brother-in-law gave me his machine (he no longer needs it) and I can't find ANYONE to set the pressure for me, even with a prescription, because I didn't purchase it from them. PLUS no-one will tell me how to set it and my pulmonary doctor doesn't know how (Goodknight 314 - an older model).

Now... this begs the question... If I buy a new CPAP online (MUCH less expensive), how do I get someone to set the pressure since I didn't buy it from them??

BTW, Christine, I'm not trying to shoot the messenger here, but it is pretty frustrating...

DanM, you wrote:

Now... this begs the question... If I buy a new CPAP online (MUCH less expensive), how do I get someone to set the pressure since I didn't buy it from them??

If you have a prescription to buy a new CPAP and you buy it from an online like cpap.com, you'll receive both manuals with the machine - users manual and clinician's manual. The latter contains instructions on how to change the pressure. You won't have to worry about finding someone else to change it for you.

Apologies for my ignorance but what does DME stand for?

Durable Medical Equipment (DME) The medical equipment supplier who (generally speaking) supplies your Cpap equipment.

thank you for clarifying that!

53now I am not from US and we don't have them! We just refer to them as per company name eg remed.