Durable Medical Equipment

DME stands for Durable Medical Equipment.

A DME Provider, also referenced as a DME, typically accepts insurance in exchange for CPAP Equipment.

The initials stand for "durable medical equipment." Message board posters use "DME" as ungrammatical shorthand to refer to home health care supplies stores as "DME"s, and also to refer to employees of those stores.

Example:
My DME is Apria. (the store)

My DME tried three masks on me, but she said only one fit me well. (the employee)

Technically online cpap supply stores are also "DME"'s -- stores that sell durable medical equipment over the internet. But when message board posters talk about "DME"s, we generally mean the bricks and mortar home health care stores that you walk into in your town.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is another type of DME.The process for treating Sleep Apnea is somewhat different for veterans than it is the civilian population in that a sleep study can be conducted at any sleep study equipped veterans facility within the veterans region. Also,the VA pays for all equipment and testing associated with the veteran and his treatment of Obsrtuctive Sleep Apnea. If the veteran requires replacement parts for his or her machine,including masks and chinstraps,the veteran needs to contact their Respiratory Therapist for those parts.The VA facility may ask the veteran to come to the facility to exchange the equipment,especially if it is part of the machine itself.If it is something like a new mask then the facility will generally mail the equipment to your home.These replacement parts are usually provided to the veteran at no cost.