Poll: Are you happy with your current supplier? VOTE Please

[sheepdog]

Would you believe until recently I didnt know the DME was supposed to keep in touch after the delivery of the equipment? Multiple DME's and none of them were worth spit. This time I have a DME Florida Hospital. They told me that they will call me monthly for filter needs and I can have a new mask every 6 months! Inserts for the mask monthly. Hoses too. I am astounded so far.

And I was expecting to have to fight for a Respironics Pro 400 series. They said the always start with the 510 series Apap as I will probably want it anyway!

I had a swift LT mask but at 19 cm/h20 it was no fun with leaks. I am now trying the respironics Full Life full face mask.

I hope it will work but if not I can try pretty much everything they have. I dont know one from another but hope they do.

I am treated better this time than ever before. I am happy so far!!

[The Texan]

Even though I live in western Idaho, I have a DME in central Florida, from when I lived there. They are very easy to work with and will supply what I ask for, within reason, plus ship everything to me in Idaho. Couldn't ask for a much better setup.

[briank]

I've personally purchased some items on cpap.com (and have been happy with them), but most of my experiences have been with Northshore Sleep Medicine in Evanston, IL (north suburban Chicago), which is covered by my insurance.

After reading about many people's experiences, I have to say I'm extremely grateful for the service I've received from NS Sleep. They are acting as both sleep specialist and DME provider. Their patients are given the opportunity to test numerous masks in order to find the best one, and, in my experience, they've been very professional, knowledgeable, and accommodating.

[RN Ricky]

No I am not! Apria decided what kind of equipment I was to receive. When I called for an "appointment" to see the RT to review how to get the humidifier to work they got me in quickly. But he advised me that I needed a superduper upgrade. So I requested from my ENT a new script which he fax'ed over promptly. Because the RT fiddled with the humidifier on this visit it started working. The tech that came to my home did not know how to teach me how to interface the Escape to the H4i because she did not know how to herself. I called the RT 4 times to request that the new equipment order be cancelled . After 2 weeks the RT returned my call .
Then I tried to order items for the ResMed cpap but they sent me parts for a Remstar! I thought they had this in a computer somewhere - over the rainbow?? Apria wins the rolling eyes award .
CPAP.COM wins the the super happy award.

[Jersey Girl]

Dear Friends,

I have been using At Home Medical from Morris Plains, NJ. I have been very satisfied with them. They let me try 4 different masks within the first 60 days - Swift LT for Her, Comfort Gel Nasal Mask, Mirage Softgel Nasal Mask, and Swift FX. The last one was my personal favorite. Also, when my husband had trouble with his Liberty, we got a Quatro for him 3 days later. They give me filters, hose and new mask and replacement water chamber every 3 months. They arranged for my insurance to purchase the machine for me after 5 months of rental and compliant therapy. They came to my home twice for me and once for my husband. He has an s9 and I have an s8. Also, the climateline hose did not come with my husband's s9 and they told me that they could put the climateline hose through insurance if our sleep dr wrote a RX for it (which I requested, he did and they immediately sent one).

So, I have no complaints and have 2 hoses on standby just in case of a leak.

They did forget to call to ask for my husband's SD card - at 30 days we need to show the insurance company compliance, so after about 2 and a half months I called them and offered to send the card in - want to make sure that eventually the insurance company converts my husband's rental to a purchase as well.

I am very happy with At Home Medical.

Regards to all,

Jersey Girl

[thewetlizard]

So far so good. The V.A. has been very good to me.

[PetrusKy]

I love all 3 of my suppliers:
. Cpap.com
. CpapAuction
. Ebay

[Amigo]

First it was Lifeplus in 2003, where I was fortunate enough to have a very caring respiratory nurse do my initial set up. She spent a great deal of time making sure I had the right mask, fitted correctly, and followed up with me regularly for over six months.

The company was then taken over by Apria (shudder), the nurse moved to Colorado, and my DME provider experiences went rapidly downhill..."customer service" was simply NOT in their vocabulary.

Moved to a private respiratory therapist only to discover that he was attempting to rip off BC-BS by submitting both bogus and inflated charges. I guess he didn't think I looked at my EOB's! I reported him, and left quickly.

Next, and last stop Keene Medical. They are sticklers for abiding by the Medicare replacement schedule, but when that time comes they never have what I need and have to order it adding several weeks to the time I receive it. They also never call me regarding supplies.

I pointed this problem out to them on several occasions, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. I finally told them they could f*&@-off, gave my business to cpap.com, and have never looked back.

[massive]

I used a local provider here in Louisville Kentucky that was actually pretty great. But they would only call me every 6 months or so when it was time for me to renew my big money supplies, I would have liked for them to send me filters on a timely basis so I didn't have to worry about it.

I switched to an online supplier that my company works with and I'm pretty happy with them. I'm not going to link to them because I don't want to sound all "spammy".

[steamfan]

Extremely happy. Contented. Grateful. Appreciative. My supplier? The Mayo Clinic Sleep Store. Wonderful folks.

[OKCCowboy]

I just switched from a company that was going out of business to Apria...which made me very happy.

Apria provided O2 and equipment to my late mother when she was fighting lung cancer. They have been providing me with a nebulizer and supplies for my asthma. When I walked in they were going to give me an S9 elite. I told them that I had requested an S9 Auto so she went and got one and set it up for me.

My RT is not a hosehead, but her mother is. My RT has taken several different types of XPAP machines and masks home and tried them herself.

Apria has been great to me and my family.

On that note, I would love to know what has caused Apria to have such a bad name here.

John M

[elena88]

I would say, I would switch to a new one, as some of you seem pretty pleased with yours..

Why I am not..

I was lied to about being able to get data out of my machine by the dme.. right to my face!

The billing dept cannot be reached for a full 48 hours after you call in with an important time sensitive issue..
Who does business like this? What business have YOU ever called, and the billing dept cant be reached for two days,
and THEY will call YOU back when they feel like it.. especially if you are about to be billed a LOT on a deadline item!

They billed my insurance an unbelievable amount for my supplies, however the rate I had to pay them was negotiated down.

I was given a machine and mask with about fifteen minutes of instruction. I was clueless when I left. When I got home, I tried the mask on, took it off,
packed it up. If not for this forum, my equipment would have been back at the hospital five months ago, and someone else would be using it

The warehouse could not find the mask I shipped back to them until I proved who signed for it so this stayed on my bill.

They send crummy unprotected envelopes to ship mask back.

They double billed my insurance twice for a switch out on machines.. I get one machine, and they bill twice. That gave me a heart attack.

They only do sleep medicine related supplies, nothing else.. you would think there would be better customer service..

I think I will do better on my own now that I have a clue as to what is going on.. and my insurance wont pay a penny for this till I meet my deductable

[DreamOn]

On that note, I would love to know what has caused Apria to have such a bad name here.

John, I've never used Apria myself, but I have read a lot of complaints here about billing problems, difficulty obtaining a fully data capable machine, and the wrong supplies being sent. It sounds like you have a wonderful RT. That can make ALL the difference!

* * *

My own DME experience has been somewhat mixed. I have no plans to visit my local DME anytime in the near future, as I'm pretty well set with supplies for a long time, but I did have a great RT there. He was extremely patient and literally spent hours with me as I tried on masks. Because my DME and sleep center are the same, he allowed me to try on as many masks (in various sizes) as I needed to, as he had access to the ones used during sleep studies. I can't express how much that helped me.

[snuginarug]

Haha, my reply can't be a plug because mine serves such a very small area up here in the mountains. Mine is great SO FAR. But I just got my machine last week. However, they made extra sure I understood the return policy on masks and said they would call in a week to see how I was doing. She said they wanted me to be comfortable. And things being what they are up here, I believe every word. I am lucky to live in a place with a good medical culture--- patient oriented and ethical. I have yet to meet a money grubber.

[gspencer]

Yipe! Apria's gone new dme come to my house tomorrow morning . Apria has made made this whole thing a horrible experience . Not really sure they know what they are doing.