doctor refuses to give prescription to buy online

[liquidblu25]

hi, ive been recently diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea, my insurance does not cover cpap, the local providers want over $1700 dollars for a machine, i found affordable machines on cpap dot com, but my doctor refuses to give me a prescription to buy a machine online, says he cant track my progress despite the fact the machine comes with tracking software, has anybody had this problem? any suggestions?

[fuzzy96]

get a new doctor

[LinkC]

It appears your doc might be in cahoots with the supplier. He may even OWN the company.

Run, run, fast as you can! ANY doc can write the script. Talk to your PCP and explain the situation. He just might be willing.

[Slinky]

Do you have a copy of his dictated report from your sleep evaluation study and your PAP titration study???

To buy online all you need is a nice generic script that your family doctor should feel comfortable writing: CPAP w/expiration pressure relief; heated humidifier, pressure ?? cms; mask of patient's choice (all you need to know is what pressure should be specified).

That generic script would be good for any CPAP from a compliance data only entry level PAP to a fully data capable APAP. (It wouldn't be good for a bi-level or the more sophisticated PAPs which are entirely different insurance codes than CPAPs and APAPs) from an online DME provider such as cpap.com.

[LSAT]

Our health laws (HIPPA) require your doctor to give you copies of all your records including prescriptions. They are YOURS.

[archangle]

Has he sent or faxed a prescription to your local DME? Once he has officially written a prescription, tell him you want a copy. Ask for copies of all your medical records.

[jimnsc]

My DME gave me a copy of my Rx, knowing I was going to buy outright online. The DME wants the rest of your business. Check with them.

[xenablue]

Your doctor CAN NOT withhold your prescription from you - it's YOURS to do with what you wish.

Good luck and don't back down on your legal rights.

Cheers,
xena

[archangle]

Your doctor CAN NOT withhold your prescription from you - it's YOURS to do with what you wish.

Be sure he has actually written a prescription first.

[sleeping beauty guy]

hi, ive been recently diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea, my insurance does not cover cpap, the local providers want over $1700 dollars for a machine, i found affordable machines on cpap dot com, but my doctor refuses to give me a prescription to buy a machine online, says he cant track my progress despite the fact the machine comes with tracking software, has anybody had this problem? any suggestions?

Hi there

I live in Vancouver and that is the pits, your not getting your much needed written prescription.

Our doctors here write us a prescription, they may have a recommended source but otherwise they do not have any other say as to where we go to buy.

The only downside that I foresee in mailordering, whether it be across town or across the world, is, if you have any difficulties of course.

Specifically your mask not fitting correctly, as I have read here so many times, sometimes 5 or more times the masks were changed.

That was with a local service provider, who may or may not exchange a mask at no charge.

That is the sad side of being able to order to try and save money, but giving up a few certain coveniences, personnal attention.

You may have different laws than we have here.

You should receive the very best medical attention and advice where ever you buy your equipment, in my opinion.

I do understand that if you buy a device from another supplier, that there has been no profit made by the local service provider you

are trying to see.

If there is a dealer network, whereas every dealer will look after their franschised brands service issues on behalf of the manuafacturer

then you should have no problem.

Many years ago I mail ordered some stereo equipment from an eastern US discounter and saved about 25 - 30% over buying from a dealer

here in Vancouver.

I could not expect a local dealer to help me with any problems should I have any.

The products that I had bought were serviced by a local independant service provider that also serviced several other brands of equipment,

both in and out of waranteee.

I would have needed to have the stereo equipment demonstrated locally to hear, see and touch for me to decide what to buy.

Yes, I was nasty, I used a local dealers time and efforts and did not help in paying for his very expensive storefront and overhead.

Buying from a non-local supplier has this downside, whether it is stereo equipment, cameras, shoes or CPAP equipment.

My point is, why should any local dealer fit me up with CPAP and support an on-going trial for nothing?

Today you have what I believe is called, "fair trade laws", price fixing to be more precise.

Even the products that I had bought are now price fixed and there is generally no discounting available for me or you.

You should believe that you would need to have a CPAP trial period with fit and fix.

If you can get that by buying mailorder, go for it and also get a new doctor.

Buy a pair of shoes mailorder without trying them on and see what it will cost you to try to return them or if you have an issue with them.

Without that the manufacturer has a local office and it does not matter to them where you bought them, in or out of state or country.

Some manufacturers will decline repairs with, gray market goods, goods bought from a non-authorized brand dealer, or out of country purchase.

Good luck and please keep us posted as to your on-going success.

Vern from Vancouver

[pap4life]

I think that there is more to this story then you are posting or you don't have the complete story from your sleep doctor. IF, he has faxed or sent the RX to a local DME, then the DME is where you need to get a copy of the RX. They are the ones that have the paper document (RX). They (DME) are required by law to provide you with a copy of your records, if you request. You may have to file certain papers to get it, and/or you may have to pay a small reproduction (copy) fee, depending on their rules, but it is your medical record and your are (by law) able to have a copy of it. They (DME) are well aware of the laws. The doctor may not have a "copy" or just does not want to write another document RX, for whatever reason. He probably only made a notation in your file of a RX written

[GumbyCT]

I think that there is more to this story then you are posting or you don't have the complete story from your sleep doctor. IF, he has faxed or sent the RX to a local DME, then the DME is where you need to get a copy of the RX. They are the ones that have the paper document (RX). They (DME) are required by law to provide you with a copy of your records, if you request. You may have to file certain papers to get it, and/or you may have to pay a small reproduction (copy) fee, depending on their rules, but it is your medical record and your are (by law) able to have a copy of it. They (DME) are well aware of the laws. The doctor may not have a "copy" or just does not want to write another document RX, for whatever reason. He probably only made a notation in your file of a RX written

Both doc and DME are required, by law, to provide documents requested in writing. The doc can (and should) provide another prescription to the patient when requested.

liquidblu25, this is covered by federal law and you should be doing your research.

What state are you in?

[Janknitz]

You might try having cpap.com contact your doctor to get the script for you. They can do that. Call their 800 number and talk to one of the salespeople. Ask them to let you know if the doctor refuses to give them the prescription. Then you may have to take other steps. But let cpap.com do the footwork first.

[Tip10]

Unfortunately this is a bit of a CATCH22. Your doctor SHOULD be forthcoming and provide you with a physical prescription you can take to the supplier of your choice. However, if they refuse to do and you have to resort to demanding your medical records from them it's not likely to solve the problem.

One thing to keep in mind is that the physical prescriptions may very well NOT be a part of your medical records that your doctor maintains. The records MUST contain information on all the different meds and other such things (including CPAP) that were prescribed but they do not necessarily have to contain a "copy" of the actual physical (or electronic) prescription.
You do have the right to request your medical records -- and the doc MUST comply. They can, however, charge reasonable fees for producing them.
This, in and of itself, is not likely to get you a physical prescription you can take to a provider and get a machine with.
It will provide all of the information about it that you can take to another doc and have them use to produce a physical prescription. But, then again, if they are providing your PCP with the information they should be then your PCP likely already has the info to produce a prescription with.

By the same token, however, the DME MUST have, in your medical records with them, the orders from the Doctor (i.e. your prescription). And they also MUST comply to a request for your records. But once again, if the prescription was submitted electronically it may not necessarily be in a format that can easily be taken to another provider.

Unfortunately, in the movement to electronic prescriptions, the age old paper script is rapidly becoming a thing of the past and as a result there really may not be any physical thing in any of your records that you can obtain to take elsewhere. The information MUST be there and with it you could likely get another doc to produce something for you to take with you.

The sad part is if your doctor is not willingly forthcoming with providing you a physical prescription to be used at your discretion you may need to go to a different doc. At the very least I'd take a shot at having your chosen supplier contact your doc on your behalf and, if your doc refuses that then I'd definitely file a complaint with your state's licensing board.

[mstevens]

When I write a prescription, it's none of my business where it gets filled. The only exception would be with controlled substances, in which case I ask patients to pick a pharmacy and stick with it.

In most cases, a physician would have a legal obligation to give you the prescription and let you fill it where you prefer. Convincing him of that may be more than it's worth. One option would be to check with the state medical board then tell your doc something along the lines of "I checked with the medical board, and they said it's none of your business where I get the prescription filled." That may, however, break any relationship you have.

It may easily be true that the doctor can't get compliance monitoring. I, for example, cannot install any software whatsoever on the hospital-owned computer on my desk, and the USB ports are disabled so I can't plug in a card reader. It's not kosher to use a private notebook for a patient's clinical information (if I did that then took my own notebook home, I would've violated HIPAA). The way around that is for YOU to bring in YOUR computer with the appropriate software and review the data in the office or send whatever reports a DME would have sent.