Where do I purchase CPAP machine: Internet or Dr. office?

I have been recently tested in a sleep lab and have been informed by Dr. that I need a CPAP machine. I will probably get the prescription in a few days.

I called Dr. office today and talked with nurse about the different types of machines. Since I am a self pay customer, I mentioned purchasing a new machine from the internet. Nurse went crazy and said Dr. would not allow me to purchase a new machine from the internet. She said she would have her company call me and discuss a used machine.

I have called a CPAP internet company and asked if there is any advantage to me purchasing a CPAP machine from the Dr. for about 1000.00 more. They said the only thing they can think of is that the Dr. would benefit.

Is there something I am missing? Would I receive better therapy from purchasing the machine from the Dr. instead of from the internet company?

I feel greed on the part of the Dr. may be getting in the way of my health care. Please help with advise.

Hunter1

Hunter1 wrote:I have been recently tested in a sleep lab and have been informed by Dr. that I need a CPAP machine. I will probably get the prescription in a few days.

Make sure you get your prescription.....it's good for LIFE.

I called Dr. office today and talked with nurse about the different types of machines. Since I am a self pay customer, I mentioned purchasing a new machine from the internet. Nurse went crazy and said Dr. would not allow me to purchase a new machine from the internet. She said she would have her company call me and discuss a used machine.

Your doctor has NO say in where you get your equipment!
A used machine??? You're entitled to a brand new machine.

I have called a CPAP internet company and asked if there is any advantage to me purchasing a CPAP machine from the Dr. for about 1000.00 more. They said the only thing they can think of is that the Dr. would benefit.

CPAP.COM is the very BEST to deal with.

Is there something I am missing? Would I receive better therapy from purchasing the machine from the Dr. instead of from the internet company?

I feel greed on the part of the Dr. may be getting in the way of my health care. Please help with advise.

Nope! You're getting the picture.....GREED! This is YOUR therapy.....not theirs.



Hunter1

Welcome to the forum!

Den

You are right on target. The doctor sounds greedy. Get a copy of your prescription from the doctor and chose your own vendor and machine.

Barbara

I purchased mine through the DME dept of the Pulmonary Clinic for convenience. The Dr. told me that I could get may machine wherever I wanted.
He told me what they sold and that the reason(?) was that it was the best -the cadillac of CPAPs- although pricer than some. (I have since learned, on this forum, that it is considered one of the best).

Since this was my first experience with OSA, I figured that having the Dr., RT, and DME all in the same place made for one stop shopping and that since all three work together, I would most likely get better care. So far, I have been extremely pleased. I like having my RT available if I have questions or need help.

Frankly I'm getting really bloody sick and tired of people on this forum jumping to the conclusion that the doctor must be greedy.

There is one very good reason to buy a machine from a real office, be it a DME or whatever: a real person who's studied anatomy and how these machines work and stuff, who can fit you personally for a mask and show you how to adjust your machine and explain its features. Oh, and a second reason: 'round the clock technical support including loaner machines if yours breaks.

Yes, of course a doctor's office or DME is a more expensive place to buy a machine. This is because it costs more to pay a certified respiratory therapist to spend an hour or two with you than to pay the guy who drives the forklift at the warehouse to spend five minutes getting it off the shelf and getting it sent out with the UPS guy.

Now, you as the patient may feel that you don't need to be personally fitted or have the machine explained to you, and you may be right. But if I were a doctor, I would recommend every time that my patient get their first machine and mask from somewhere that would sit and fit the mask and explain everything and be there to provide technical support if something went wrong, like if you woke up at 2 am because your machine died and you didn't know how to fix it.

How many people post here because their machines die? How many people just can't get their new mask to work right? Now, not all of those problems would be prevented by going through a brick-and-mortar DME, but at least fewer people would post here and say "I finally figured out why my leak rates are so high and I've felt like **** for the last month, it's because I've been using a large cushion when I really needed a small" if they'd been properly fitted by an RT who did their job.

Go ahead and buy your machine online if that's what you want to do--I did so, myself--but stop and think about what you give up by doing so. And stop thinking your doctor is out to get you. All of you.

tillymarigold wrote:Frankly I'm getting really bloody sick and tired of people on this forum jumping to the conclusion that the doctor must be greedy.

There is one very good reason to buy a machine from a real office, be it a DME or whatever: a real person who's studied anatomy and how these machines work and stuff, who can fit you personally for a mask and show you how to adjust your machine and explain its features. Oh, and a second reason: 'round the clock technical support including loaner machines if yours breaks.

Yes, of course a doctor's office or DME is a more expensive place to buy a machine. This is because it costs more to pay a certified respiratory therapist to spend an hour or two with you than to pay the guy who drives the forklift at the warehouse to spend five minutes getting it off the shelf and getting it sent out with the UPS guy.

Now, you as the patient may feel that you don't need to be personally fitted or have the machine explained to you, and you may be right. But if I were a doctor, I would recommend every time that my patient get their first machine and mask from somewhere that would sit and fit the mask and explain everything and be there to provide technical support if something went wrong, like if you woke up at 2 am because your machine died and you didn't know how to fix it.

How many people post here because their machines die? How many people just can't get their new mask to work right? Now, not all of those problems would be prevented by going through a brick-and-mortar DME, but at least fewer people would post here and say "I finally figured out why my leak rates are so high and I've felt like **** for the last month, it's because I've been using a large cushion when I really needed a small" if they'd been properly fitted by an RT who did their job.

Go ahead and buy your machine online if that's what you want to do--I did so, myself--but stop and think about what you give up by doing so. And stop thinking your doctor is out to get you. All of you.

... too funny.

You are joking right?

Tilly,
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, especially when it comes to buying online. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you pay in person, you still don't get the service that you pay for.

It really depends on the RT and the DME whether you'll even get what you mentioned with the mask fittings or you'll get patted on the head and told that all will be fine, even though it isn't.

Go ahead and buy your machine online if that's what you want to do--I did so, myself--but stop and think about what you give up by doing so. And stop thinking your doctor is out to get you. All of you.

I DID get my first machine from "proper channels" and was given a machine and mask by a DME, given about 5 minutes of instruction on how to turn it on, change the filter, told I probably wouldn't want the hassle of a humidifier due to cleaning requirements, and I was sent home.

I read every scrap of literature that came with the machine so I would have a working knowledge should a problem occur in the night.

I was not told of the various types of machines. I was not given any other masks to try on. He showed me how to put the mask on a styrofoam head, not on me, so when I went to put it on, I still had problems. I was not informed of when to make another appointment to check how I was doing, how often to buy new filters, hoses, masks, etc.

The frustration of that experience is what made me go online to start to educate myself on this diagnosed condition. I can honestly say that had I not found this site, I would not be 100 percent comliant as I am now. I was pointed toward information, had newbie questions answered, and found a community who understood what I was trying so hard to adjust to.

I hope others have a better experience than I had, but from what I read, they are few and far between.

And the same holds true for the doctor and the sleep lab. MAYBE you will get a good one and they will follow up w/you and be ready to assist you as needed. MAYBE.

Frankly, my sleep lab and sleep doctor are great and ready to assist me when needed. On the other hand .... I'd just as soon bucket the local DME supplier I got my Resmed S8 Elite from. Their service is so LOUSY and non-existent and their RT either inexperienced, stupid or could give a rat's rear about the CPAP patient. I "was" fortunate to get my 02 supplies from another local DME contracted w/my secondary insurance and I now get my masks and CPAP supplies, etc. from them. I'm hoping to finish up my capped rental contract w/the sheister DME supplier w/o having to have any further contact w/them at all!!!

So, don't be setting anyone's hopes too high on getting good service from sleep lab, sleep doctor or local DME supplier. MAYBE the patient will get good care and service from them and MAYBE they won't. There are an awful lot of patients who get crappy service, followup and assistance from the locals so it pays to REALLY check them out BEFORE committing to them when one is a self-pay.

I understand what you're saying Tilly, but here was my exerience at the hospital: I didn't deal with a doctor or an RT, just the nurse. And only for 10 minutes or so.

They only had 3 masks to try on (2 masks & 1 nasal pillow), and only 1 machine (P&B 420G)

When I asked her to rinse it before using it on me (I was tied to the bed with cables), she said "No need, it's right out of the bag". (Even the respironics user guide said to rinse it before first use!).

When I asked if I could have a humidfier, she said "No, because the doctor didn't prescribe you one.... we can see whether you need one or not during the study" - which is BS because I needed one.

When I asked why my mask could be making loud noises and whether it was from a leaking mask, she said "Oh it's because you breath differently when you sleep and that's why it gets louder".. also BS in my opinion because only way the sound increases is if the flow increases, which only happens if there is a leak (Or i somehow breath TOO much during my sleep).

When I asked for a machine that has data logging, the answer was "You don't need it, the numbers aren't accurate".

I wasn't shown anything on my machine, the menu was deemed unnecssary, and only shown the ramp and on/off.

After two nights of continually waking up, I asked her what I should do if it continues, the nurse said "oh well you just have to sleep through the night" DUH and oh so helpful.

(The only benefit I must say is the "round the clock tech support and loaner machines")

So even though I've never had an experience with a DME, I must say that my experience at the hospital was not all that much better than if I had gotten it off the internet. I got much more info about the therapy from this site than from the nurse (I did ask a lot of the same qutesions to see what they would say - they basically said nothing useful!).

Although my sleep doctor is AWESOME , the entire hospital experience left much to be desired, and I don't feel like I got what I paid for.

Just my experience though...

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): respironics, DME, Ramp

Sorry, I thought I was logged in.

I also want to add that after I learned about the different machines from this site, I turned that DME machine back in (I had changed jobs and insurance companies and they wanted to have me buy it for about 3x what it would cost here)

I purchased a machine from cpap.com, I decided to take the extra step by getting the card and software, and I have never regretted it for one second.

Just because some of y'all's doctors and DMEs suck doesn't mean everyone's do.

I had two mask fittings of 30 minutes each that each started by asking me what type of masks I was interested in and why--and, I might add, each was to fit *one* mask and at the end of it each fit perfectly--and 30 minutes of instruction on my machine, after which I was sent home with both all the patient manuals to the machines *and* a separate book by my DME on how to use and care for my machine. Which, I might add, they knew full well I was only renting for a month and they waived the co-pay anyway.

I don't regret buying my current machine online either. (In fact, my doctor recommended that I, as an informed patient with a good understanding of technology and the good sense to follow his directions, do precisely that.) What I'm saying is there are perfectly valid reasons for wanting to get one's life-saving medical equipment from someone who is certified in the use of that equipment. And that FOR PETE'S SAKES, DOCTORS BECOME DOCTORS BECAUSE THEY WANT TO HELP THEIR PATIENTS!!!!!! And yet everyone on this board seems to assume that everything their doctor recommends is done solely because the doctor wants to line his or her pockets.

Ask yourself, since I assume most of you have a job: Would you do something that was totally against your profession's code of ethics just to make a bit more money? Would you put yourself hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt because you thought someday you'd get to make a bit extra off ripping your patients off? Or would you do it because you wanted to help people, and do your level best to recommend to your patient the thing that you actually thought was best for your patient to do?

Tilly, If the Doctors office truly has the patients "best interest" in mind then the Doctor could make a recomenndation as to which xpap to order. To require it to be ordered through the Doctor's office at a conciderably higher cost than online does not suggest that the patients "best interest" is being concidered. Especially given the fact that the cost is coming stricktly out of pocket by Hunter1.

My doctor was very helpful and is to this day. I have recieved excellent care by him. I was fortunate to get an APAP as ordered by the doctor. However, I told him that I would buy it out of pocket through the internet if my DME would not provide the APAP system I felt that I needed for treatment.
My doctor did not freak out about it and he even provided me with a hard copy of the prescription should I need to go the internet route.

My DME gave me absolutely no help or follow up for the added price that my insurance is paying for the APAP. They only showed me how to turn on the APAP and connect the mask to the APAP. They did not even show me how to fit the mask. I ordered a Swift which I had used during my Titration and I felt comfortable with. I asked about exchanging the mask within 30 days should it not work out for me. I think the lady laughed at me. She told me that if I wanted to try any other masks that I would need to order them out of pocket. They would not be covered by my insurance. Insurance only covers 1 mask every 6 months.

From reading this forum I have found my experience to be the norm and in some ways even better than some. If you can find a Doctor/RT/DME/Insurance all willing and able to provide the type of service you talk about then grab on and don't let go. You have found a gold mine. I know that there are a few out there. I feel lucky to have found a good Doctor and to have good insurance which pays 100% on the equipment. I just have to fight with the DME....Or go online.

[quote="Hunter1"]I have been recently tested in a sleep lab and have been informed by Dr. that I need a CPAP machine. I will probably get the prescription in a few days.

I called Dr. office today and talked with nurse about the different types of machines. Since I am a self pay customer, I mentioned purchasing a new machine from the internet. Nurse went crazy and said Dr. would not allow me to purchase a new machine from the internet. She said she would have her company call me and discuss a used machine.

I have called a CPAP internet company and asked if there is any advantage to me purchasing a CPAP machine from the Dr. for about 1000.00 more. They said the only thing they can think of is that the Dr. would benefit.

Is there something I am missing? Would I receive better therapy from purchasing the machine from the Dr. instead of from the internet company?

I feel greed on the part of the Dr. may be getting in the way of my health care. Please help with advise.

Hunter1

I didn't learn anything from the doctor or the RT who sold me the machine. I have only read a couple of posts by people who were pleased with their DME whereas all have been pleased with cpap.com.

I am in Canada and the postage is expensive but it is still so much cheaper here that it doesn't make sense to buy from DME and I have insurance. If I had to pay it would be an easy decision where to purchase.

You will get all the help you need here for getting your equipment working the way you need it.