I finally Heard from my DME

I got a phone call tonight from my DME, Pacific Pulmonary, letting me know that they had my prescription and were getting my equipment ready to ship. I asked what they were sending and it was a Respironics DS150. I said that I would prefer a Resmed S9 Elite and she said "OK". Pretty cool. I then asked for the climateline hose and she said I would need a prescription for the heated hose and I asked her if she would take care of it with my Dr. and she said "OK".

I asked her for the Swift LT mask, which I used in my titration, and she said OK again. So far I am off to a great start with Pacific Pulmonary. They were very friendly and there were no agendas. Hopefully I will have everything by Wednesday and can begin my therapy and it sounds like I should have a great relationship with the DME and my Dr. It has been a long month and I am excited to finally be moving forward.

DS150... is the bottom of the barrel machine. No CFLEX, no data.

cflame1 wrote:DS150... is the bottom of the barrel machine. No CFLEX, no data.

Well it is all good because I am getting the S9 elite. I am sooooo excited. I didn't know the DS150 was the toad. Glad I had already done my homework on the S9 Elite. I have to have CFLEX or EPR, I titrated with an S8 and they used the EPR during my titration.

B_4 wrote:
Well it is all good because I am getting the S9 elite.

The DME just took about a $400 extra hit because you told them what you preferred? Whoa, the world should be so nice all the time! I hope you get the machine, though. Good luck.

I'm no pro, I just had someone very nice on the phone with me. My insurance is also pretty good though and I don't know if that makes a difference.

This website has been helpful for learning about equipment and people's experience with it. My only concern with the S9 is the hoses have seemed to be fragile for some folks. I get my equipment next week and I was so excited about the phone call I had to share.

I will continue to share my experience with Pacific Pulmonary, so far they have been pleasant.

I would say don't start bragging on them until the machine you want is in your hands. We've seen the bait and switch game before. We've seen DME's promise an S9 Elite and deliver an S9 Escape and try to tell you it's "just as good" when it has NO data capability.

Hopefully that will not happen to you, but just saying . . .

I would have trust issues with a DME that tried to dump a PR System One DS150 on you--that's the low end System One with no data.

If they do deliver as promised, then they deserve all the praise in the world.

Janknitz wrote:I would say don't start bragging on them until the machine you want is in your hands. We've seen the bait and switch game before. We've seen DME's promise an S9 Elite and deliver an S9 Escape and try to tell you it's "just as good" when it has NO data capability.

Hopefully that will not happen to you, but just saying . . .

I would have trust issues with a DME that tried to dump a PR System One DS150 on you--that's the low end System One with no data.

If they do deliver as promised, then they deserve all the praise in the world.

I will keep you posted! I am hopefully optimistic.

jonquiljo wrote:The DME just took about a $400 extra hit because you told them what you preferred? Whoa, the world should be so nice all the time! I hope you get the machine, though. Good luck.

Nah, the local DME didn't take anywhere near that big a hit. Resmed and Respironics and their crappy online pricing policies prevent us from having any real idea of the difference in cost to the providers between PAP models. It used to be it was only a $50 difference between an entry level, bare bone CPAP and a fully data capable APAP.

There is still only a $50 difference between the S9 Elite and S9 Autoset. I bought my own S9 Elite from my
DME for $800 out of pocket. The Autoset would have been $850. I think the Escape is about $100 less than the S9, if I remember correctly. I was surprised as I thought I'd have to pay more through my DME.

Janknitz wrote: I would have trust issues with a DME that tried to dump a PR System One DS150 on you--that's the low end System One with no data.

If they do deliver as promised, then they deserve all the praise in the world.

I agree. You might be safe (if you have a good insurance company) to call them and talk to someone (preferably low down on the ladder who isn't about to lie to you). Just ask them casually what machine are they going to send? If they respond with the DS150 - I would not accept the package. Once you accept the package - it makes it a lot harder to get them to go back on it.

That's why if using a DME, it's usually better to go pick it up if you can. Bait and switch is easy to play and easy to lose.

jonquiljo wrote:

Janknitz wrote: I would have trust issues with a DME that tried to dump a PR System One DS150 on you--that's the low end System One with no data.

If they do deliver as promised, then they deserve all the praise in the world.

I agree. You might be safe (if you have a good insurance company) to call them and talk to someone (preferably low down on the ladder who isn't about to lie to you). Just ask them casually what machine are they going to send? If they respond with the DS150 - I would not accept the package. Once you accept the package - it makes it a lot harder to get them to go back on it.

That's why if using a DME, it's usually better to go pick it up if you can. Bait and switch is easy to play and easy to lose.

They will be FedExing it to me at work. I really don't think they will pull the bait and switch, that would be so unprofessional as to be incomprehensible.

B_4 wrote:I got a phone call tonight from my DME, Pacific Pulmonary, letting me know that they had my prescription and were getting my equipment ready to ship. I asked what they were sending and it was a Respironics DS150. I said that I would prefer a Resmed S9 Elite and she said "OK". Pretty cool. I then asked for the climateline hose and she said I would need a prescription for the heated hose and I asked her if she would take care of it with my Dr. and she said "OK".

I asked her for the Swift LT mask, which I used in my titration, and she said OK again. So far I am off to a great start with Pacific Pulmonary. They were very friendly and there were no agendas. Hopefully I will have everything by Wednesday and can begin my therapy and it sounds like I should have a great relationship with the DME and my Dr. It has been a long month and I am excited to finally be moving forward.

If I have learned one thing in life it is that when it sounds to good to be true, It IS.

Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned OFF.

I will be rooting for ya none the less.

Thanks Gumby. I'm rooting for me too.

B_4 wrote: They will be FedExing it to me at work. I really don't think they will pull the bait and switch, that would be so unprofessional as to be incomprehensible.

Not so unprofessional as possibly really stupid. You may have talked to a person way over their head and who said "yes" to you when they had no authority or power to make it happen that way. The person says yes to you, pushes a button to change your machine and it doesn't compute. You really think they are going to call you back to say, "oops B_4, I really was wrong on that one!" It really can't hurt to call them again and just get someone without any idea of what's going on (other than to look up reality on their computer screen) - who can tell you what is really being sent. If I am wrong - great, but call me the great cynic - I wouldn't want you to get screwed out of what you possibly can get.

The problem is that it is mechanized health care coupled with the fact that you are not even they (direct) payer - the insurance company is. These people see the insurance company as the customer - not you. If something happens and they get you to accept a package that is not what you want - you don't have much to say about it. It's not like you bought it directly and you can do a credit card charge back. But once you open that box, you are stuck with whatever they sent you unless your insurance company is really going to go to bat for you.

C'mon - just a little phone call. Hey - I'd love to have my suspicions found wrong on this one. If they follow through, then I am a paranoid clown. If not ... well .. what have you got to lose? I'm rooting for you too - and I just want you to make sure you win.

jonquiljo


I will be talking with them again before they send the machine. I am going to have her send it to my office since it is FedEx that way someone will be sure to be home to sign for it and they still need that address. I will reconfirm the machine model # etc before it is sent. I don't think you are paranoid, just cautious.

We will definitely see in the next few days. Oh, the insurance company may pay the DME, but I have the control to choose the DME and I have signed nothing. I can tell my insurance where I would like the money to be spent so that gives me quite a bit of control.

I am honestly optimistic about this but the proof will be in the pudding.