"Who's minding the store?" (apria)

No, it does not make it fair.
But, your health is the important issue here.
Take care of yourself; and THEN fight injustice, incompetence, and indifference.
It's a big job, but YOU come first!

I received my gear in April of 2010...bought and paid for by me, no insurance. The day I paid off my bill is the last day I heard from the DME, Doctor...or anyone in that field of medicine . Since that day I have relied on the good folks here on the forum and have done my own "tweaking". I AM MY own therapist, DME and Doctor...my ahi is usually 0.0 to 0.3, I sleep 8 hours fitfully every night and I feel great....THANKS to the good folks here and of course "me". .
You need to tke charge of your own therapy, no-one else will do it for you....if that takes 20 phone calls to the DME and or doctor to get an answer, its what you have to do..then do it!
Good luck
Nan

LSAT wrote:What Chunkyfrog said is correct...they are simply a retail establishment. Does your car repair shop call you to see how your car is running?
You need your doctor input.

Yes, the doctor's input would be lovely. Too bad no one is sending him/her (sleep specialist/pcp) the data so I can get the doctor's input.

And incidentally, I also receive notices when my car is due for maintenence.

The local urgicare calls a few days after a visit to see how I'm feeling if I stop in there for a sinus infection. I'd expect the same courtesy from someone who is supposed to be monitoring something like....let's see....whether I've stopped BREATHING in the middle of the night.

Even if you look at it as the DME being strictly a retail establishment, they'd be far better served to be more attentive to their pts. Or should I say consumers? Had they been more attentive to my needs, I'd be far more likely to purchase any out of pocket incidentals I want from them. As it stands, I"d be hard pressed to give them any additional business.

Sorry to have to say this but your post sounds like something that would have been written back when you pulled up to get gasoline and they would run, not walk to your car and ask: "How can we help you today?"

It wasn't until I took total control of my sleep apnea that I got better....and I have this forum and the many wonderful people here to thank for that!!!!!

Take care, and take control! The best of luck to you......

Janice

jwerley wrote:Sorry to have to say this but your post sounds like something that would have been written back when you pulled up to get gasoline and they would run, not walk to your car and ask: "How can we help you today?"

It wasn't until I took total control of my sleep apnea that I got better....and I have this forum and the many wonderful people here to thank for that!!!!!

Take care, and take control! The best of luck to you......

Janice

Oh, you mean back when if you got paid for a job, you gave it 100% ???

To be fair, apparently all DME's are NOT the same. A co-workers husband has a different DME and she said they'll call him the next day if he happens to take his mask off in the middle of the night to see what's going on.

I have no problem with participating in my own care. I monitor my data daily and post questions here in regards to that data. In fact, since they're taking back my apap, I need to post to ask the fine folk here what settings I should be putting back in my cpap, since the prior ones didn't work.

zoocrewphoto wrote:Do DMEs actually do much with data, other than record compliance and pass it to the doctor? It seems like any changes would be done by the doctor, so the modem may give them the data, but they aren't the ones to change the prescription.

It also sounds like you may have other issues that are causing the waking up since it started before the cpap. There could be multiple things that all need to be treated before you get success.

I think some of them do know what they're doing and may check the data see problems, etc. Unfortunately, the medical mafia insists on that information, pressure changes, etc. being done by the doctor. I suspect for some good DMEs, the DME really does most of the work, and the doctor sort of rubber stamps things.

Then of course, there are plenty of stupid, lazy, or dishonest DMEs as well. And lazy, stupid, or dishonest doctors, too.

archangle wrote:

zoocrewphoto wrote:Do DMEs actually do much with data, other than record compliance and pass it to the doctor? It seems like any changes would be done by the doctor, so the modem may give them the data, but they aren't the ones to change the prescription.

It also sounds like you may have other issues that are causing the waking up since it started before the cpap. There could be multiple things that all need to be treated before you get success.

I think some of them do know what they're doing and may check the data see problems, etc. Unfortunately, the medical mafia insists on that information, pressure changes, etc. being done by the doctor. I suspect for some good DMEs, the DME really does most of the work, and the doctor sort of rubber stamps things.

Then of course, there are plenty of stupid, lazy, or dishonest DMEs as well. And lazy, stupid, or dishonest doctors, too.

Agreed. Nor do I want the dme changing my settings. Although I'd imagaine a RT should be able to at least make that call and get the doc to sign off on it.

The wakings are what got me on cpap to start with. My AHI is generally under 1 with either cpap or apap. Although when I side sleep it's under 1 without cpap as well. "Largely positional sleep apnea" My numbers are good but the awakenings are leaving me exhausted. (This has been going on over 3 years.) Sleep architecture is a mess with or w/o cpap, as is my awakening/arousal index.

I print out my own reports to take to my neurologist. I have a wonderful DME, but I wouldn't trust them to advise me, or send info to my doctor/s - even though most of them are XPAP users.

I agree with others - ultimately, it's YOUR health, your responsibility if you want things handled right. Is it fair? Possibly not, but no one cares as a much about you and your health as YOU do.

Cheers,
xena