What does DME really mean?

TheWife · Post by **TheWife** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 3:57 pm

Okay, I looked it up and DME stands for "Durable Medical Equipment". I thought it meant something like d**ned medical expenses or something like that. Who the heck came up with that name anyway? So is the storefront where my husband is buying (currently trying out) his equipment called a DME? Doesn't seem to make sense.

Theresa

krousseau · Post by **krousseau** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:01 pm

Technically they are DME providers. Most just refer to them as DME's.

Sleepless in St. Louis · Post by **Sleepless in St. Louis** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:03 pm

You are right, the DME moniker is somewhat of a misnomer. I've wondered about this myself. I suppose it would make more sense to call them a DMES where the S stand for supplier. I see your point, but we all still just call it the DME prolly for the sake of simplicity.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:07 pm

DME does stand for Durable Medical Equipment.

We use "DME" as ungrammatical shorthand on message boards to refer to the store that sells home health care supplies or to an employee who works for such a store.

(Store)
"My DME is a 50 mile round trip."

(Person)
"My DME was really nice. She let me keep bringing masks back until we found one that worked for me."

OwlCreekObserver · Post by **OwlCreekObserver** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:07 pm

Here's one definition:

Items of medical equipment owned or rented which are placed in the home of an insured to facilitate treatment and/or rehabilitation. DME generally consist of items that can withstand repeated use. DME is primarily and customarily used to serve a medical purpose and is usually not useful to a person in the absence of illness or injury.

Here at cpaptalk.com, many use the term to describe the businesses who lease or sell DME equipment -- along with a lot of other terms.

OCO

NyNurse33 · Post by **NyNurse33** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:08 pm

Since every city has its own company name, we just call them that generically. Always have in healthcare. But DME supplier is more correct.

Sleepless in St. Louis · Post by **Sleepless in St. Louis** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:15 pm

[quote="NyNurse33"]Since every city has its own company name, we just call them that generically. Always have in healthcare. But DME supplier is more correct.

I'm wondering how something can be "more correct"? It's either correct or not. I'm just being a wisenhimer.

NyNurse33 · Post by **NyNurse33** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:52 pm

I guess you are.....Sorry guess I was having a tired moment, will make sure my grammar has improved for my next post. Thanks for pointing it out though, you've made my day.

Sleepless in St. Louis · Post by **Sleepless in St. Louis** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:57 pm

Make sure that you do Missy!! I hope you realize I was kidding. I did not mean to pull your chain till it rattled.

I look forward to reading your next post, correct grammar or not.

Tim

NyNurse33 · Post by **NyNurse33** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:03 pm

Boy am I starting to feel pathetic....scoping out everyone else's equipment, realizing how much we can all relate to each other, it's a good thing though! It's like some sort of secret society. On that note, sleepless, I'm on the prowl for a new mask, possibly. I noticed the hybrid's nasal pillows are somewhat different than the swift. Do you find it comfortable? And have you ever been able to compare it to other masks with nasal pillows?

Sleepless in St. Louis · Post by **Sleepless in St. Louis** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:15 pm

Like Groucho Marks said. "I'd never join a club that would accept me as a member." None of us really have much of a choice so here we are, all together, trying to get it right. I've only used the swift and hybrid in my cpap life. The swift for me is much more comfortable and easy to get to hold a seal. If you have a roundish face, you may have luck with the hybrid according to the conventional wisdom of this board. I wanted to try the Hybrid because I WILL mouth breath and also to have an alternative to strictly nasal interfaces when I'm stuffy. I have had issues getting the Hyrid to hold a seal for me but there are some advantages to it that make it worth pursuing for me. It has a higher CO2 washout rate, which I hoped would improve the way I was feeling. I may just go back to the swift full time if I don't start doing better with the Hybrid. People seem to love or hate the Hybrid. If you can afford to purchase it, it may work for you. There certainly are a ton of adjustment combinations possible. The headgear is crap on what is shipping with the mask. Do a search on the board and you'll find plenty of discussion relative to the pros and cons of the Hybrid.

Tim

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:52 pm

Melissa, unless you actually need a full face mask to control mouth breathing or mouth air leaks, or just want to get a full face mask to keep on hand in case you get a cold with a lot of nasal congestion, I don't think the Hybrid is really what you're looking for. The Hybrid is a full face mask.

If you're interested in trying another nasal pillows interface, I'd suggest Aeiomed's "Headrest" (formerly called the Aura) as the most comfortable nasal pillows interface I've used. It's been my favorite, night after night, for the past year. A very close second, for me, is the Respironics ComfortLite 2. Both those have very soft nasal pillows. Both are very good for sleeping on either side as well as on one's back.

An advantage to the ComfortLite 2 is that it comes with a choice of two completely different nasal assemblies. I chose the nasal pillows and the "simple cushion" (like a tiny over-the-tip-of-the-nose mask) for my two options.

Another advantage to the ComfortLite 2 is that most DMEs (yeah, there's that shorthand word again! LOL) would have it in stock or could easily get it. Few DMEs have even heard of the Aeiomed Headrest (Aura) mask and might not be willing to order it for you.

With either of those masks (the Headrest/Aura, or the ComfortLite 2) I place a homemade strap around the front to hold them perfectly in place.

Here are some links to discussions about those two masks:

LINKS to Respironics ComfortLite 2 nasal pillows mask topics

Links to Aeiomed Headrest (Aura) nasal pillows mask topics

motherall · Post by **motherall** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:52 pm

The term DME (durable medical equipment) is used to differentiate it from consumables such as dressings, ostomy supplies, medicated wipes, i.e. one time use. DME items are meant to be used for quite some time as rental or purchase items. So there are DME items and DME suppliers. I work for a medical network and we get so many calls looking for a place to get a specific item such as a particular cpap mask. We of course can only verify who is contracted with our network, not what they stock. People get very upset when we tell them that we'll give them names to call to find their item. I think they honestly believe we have catalogs on our desks- well, not really, the whole process is never explained as it should be to policy holders. If I wasn't involved in the process, I would be so confused about the whole insurance bit. I do try very hard to give as much information as possible so insured's have some idea how the system works. I really feel sorry for anyone with a chronic disorder and no knowledge of their insurance plan. nor how to appeal a claim, or who to contact to get things done. Sorry, I'm off on a tangent. Don't even know what I started to post. Oh, DME..it's a good thing.

roster · Post by **roster** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:17 pm

OK, let's make our grammar correct. On this forum, DME will stand for Durable Medical Equiper. We are the equipees.

DME Police · Post by **DME Police** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:38 pm

Ah, My favorite thread!

Mask	Humidifier

Additional Comments: Cpap at 10 now, initially 12, then 14

What does DME really mean?

What does DME really mean?

Sleepless