Comlaint to BBB about Apria - process complete

I have previously alluded to the fact that I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against Apria in March. That process is complete and I thought I would share the outcome with you.

The original complaint was filed on March 7, 2007.

"Date of service, Jan. 16, 2007. No contact since. Rental of CPAP machine for sleep apnea. Respironics Series M (No C-Flex, No Data Capabilities). No follow up. Rude employees, treated me like I was uneducated. Is the worst CPAP on the market. No compliance to Dr's prescription. No desire to comply with Dr's prescription. Employee had no education about treatment of disorder she was trying to assist with. No contact information or contact person to contact for more information. Employee's name Jan. Did not have correct information about what my insurance would cover. Had no customer service skills. No privacy about my account or illness. Insisted that I be taught about the machine and treating my disorder with another patient in the room. Insisted I purchase a mask that I am allergic to and can not use. Refused to order, or even attempt to order, the mask the Dr ordered for me. Has still not contacted me to find out if I needed supplies or how I am doing."

Desired Resolution: "I want them to take back the machine and not charge me or my insurance anymore for it. I have found a new company to deal with that is all about compliance with Dr prescription and patient's needs."

The Better Business Bureau sent the complaint to Apria for comment and resolution. They had to send the complaint twice to get them to respond. After they sent the complaint on March 7th, On March 21st they sent me an e-mail to see if I had heard from them.

"Yes, I have heard from Apria.
I took the equipment I had rented from them on March 13, 2007. I called and informed them I was coming in for that purpose. They were rude, not helpful, the girl at the desk did not know what to do to process the return. She tried to get me to fill out new patient information. When I advised her I was no longer going to be a patient and asked her why she wanted me to fill out new patient paperwork, she admitted to me it was a stall tactic because she didn't know what to do. She did not even know how to accept the payment I was making for the past month's rental. (they charge you after the month is over, not ahead).
I have returned the CPAP machine I was renting from them. I would like a written apology from them regarding how I was treated, and a refund for the CPAP mask they insisted I purchase from them and have been unable to use since I am allergic to it. I would like this complaint and it's outcome forwarded to every insurance company Apria does business with. Especially, the information about not complying with the prescription from the Doctor.
What I expect they will offer is nothing, not even the apology."

Finally, on March 30th, Apria Responded to the complaint.

"Contact Name and Title: Karen Crane Branch Mgr
Contact Phone: 405.495.1919
Contact Email: Karen_Crane@apria.com
I will respond with bullet points:
1.) Respironics Series M is the newest CPAP machine in Apria Healthcare's fleet of inventory.
2.) On 12/13/2006, a corporate dictate was distributed to all locations. This dictate stated that Apria Healthcare would no longer provide the Hybrid CPAP mask. Therefore, it is not that we were unwilling to comply with a physician's prescription. We were unable to do so. -Azaloune-had the opportunity upfront to refuse the masks that we offer.
3.) The Respiratory Therapist, Jan, has been a licensed RT since 1997. OKC Apria sets up approximately 100 CPAP patients per month. We are very versed in -Azaloune's- illness. As a matter of fact, many of our RTs share the illness.
4.) Our CPAP patients are set up in a group clinical setting. This is done for group learning purposes. The collection of questions asked by the group only help the participants. Patients can most definitely request a one on one session. We have never denied that request.
5.) Per -Azaloune's- insurance, she is allowed her major supplies every 3 months. She would have received a call at that point.

All patient's are advised to feel free to call with any questions or if further instruction is needed. We are a 24/7 operation. We are never unavailable to our patient base.

6.) -Azaloune's- equipment has been returned to Apria Healthcare and her outstanding account balance is zero.

This was forwarded to me, and I was asked if I accepted her response, I did not accept it and provided my own rebuttal.

"I will respond to Ms. Crane's bullets with the following:

1. The Respironics Series M may be the newest machine in Apria's line, but, it is not the smallest, or the best, or even close to the best, machine on the market. It is merely the cheapest.

2. Your respiratory therapist, Jan, told me when she called me to set up my appointment that she would check to see if she could get the Hybrid for me, and would call me back. She did not ask anyone, or check her own information that you state was given to all therapists in December 2006, until I was in your office, 10 minutes early for my appointment on January 16, 2007. In other words, she did not call me back. I have caller ID and voice mail on all the phone lines I have, so, I am 100% certain she did not even try to call.

3. Apria as a company, may be versed in the illness I have and may have a large number of employees that have the illness, but Jan, is not well versed in the illness or treatment of it. She does not understand that, allergies can make a major difference in the treatment of OSA, and the polymers and coatings on the masks that were offered may cause allergic reactions to the people she is treating. She also never asked, and was not aware, that she was treating someone with severe allergies and has been on allergy medications.

4. If I had been informed that my "lesson" was to have been in a group setting prior to arriving at your office, I would have requested a private session. The law requires privacy in the medical field, and your group sessions allow for no privacy. I was not informed that my session was to be shared by anyone until both our names were called at the same time and we were escorted to the same room. I was informed at that time, in front of another patient, that the mask my Dr had ordered was not available through your company. When I asked her what I was doing there if she could not provide what my Dr had prescribed, she told me she did not know what I was doing there.

5. According to you, my insurance allows major supplies every 3 months. According to what I was told by Jan during my "group session", in front of another patient, my insurance would only pay for 1 machine every 3 years, 2 filters every month, and 1 mask every 6 months. I have been advised by the new company that I am using for my illness, that I can have a new hose, new filter, and new mask every month. That it will be sent to me through the mail, or I can have items delivered on a 24 hour basis to my home or work. I only have to go to their office if I choose. I was not told of any option by your employees except driving to your office, on the other side of the county I live in, to purchase what I need. I would also need to call at least 24 hours in advance so they can make sure it is available. I was never given a contact number for the local office, and was only given Jan's name once I was writing my check for my first payment and asked the receptionist for her name.

6. When I returned my equipment on March 13, 2007, I paid the only bill I had received at that time. That bill was for a full 1 month's rental for a month that only had 28 days in it and the machine was returned 3 days before that month was over. I received a bill stating I was over 30 days past due for a month's rental for a machine no longer in my possession on April 4, 2007. When I called Apria's "billing questions" 800# on April 5th, I was told the payment I had made at the Oklahoma City office when I returned the machine, had not been posted to my account. I was then told by the female who did not identify herself in the conversation, that if I was not very polite to her she would hang up on me. I have never seen the customer service manual your company uses, but I have always been taught that if the company was wrong, then the customer was right and should receive an apology.

7. It is very nice to know that someone from Apria has said my account balance is zero. I will be sure to keep a printed record of that particular statement and just who it is attributed to. I will also make sure my insurance company receives a copy of it."

Apria did not respond to my rebuttal, The Better Business Bureau has closed the case as UNRESOLVED, meaning, they will tell anyone that calls or check's online for complaints that they have had a complaint against the company. Not much, but I guess that is the best they can do since Apria is not a member company of the Better Business Bureau. I just thought you all would like to know the outcome.

Sorry this is so long, but I have copied all of the sections of the complaint so you can see for yourself. This is the only time I have ever filed a complaint against any company, but this is how strongly I felt I was treated wrong. Thanks for reading.

Azaloune

It looks like you still have a lot of energy about this. I can understand that.
If you look in the light bulb article on safety and incidents, you will see how to file a complaint with JCAHO. JCAHO incidents are reviewed by insurance companies before they renew a contract.

Mile High Sleeper wrote:It looks like you still have a lot of energy about this. I can understand that.

I understand it as well. They just sound so awful.

I loved Apria's response "We did nothing wrong"

This really got me:

5.) Per -Azaloune's- insurance, she is allowed her major supplies every 3 months. She would have received a call at that point.

I've dealt with two different DMEs - both called me within 1 week of getting my CPAP (one actually called after 2 days) to see how I was doing. Apparently, Apria doesn't care - they only call when they want to sell you supplies.

azaloune wrote:Apria is not a member company of the Better Business Bureau

Gee, I wonder why????

Azaloune - I hope you're sharing all of this information with your insurance company. And, file that complaint Mile High Sleeper referenced.

Mile High Sleeper wrote:
It looks like you still have a lot of energy about this. I can understand that.

Not so much about the treatment I was the recipient of, just about Apria in general.

BTW, Apria has already signed a new provider contract with Aetna that is good until July 2009.

My only saving grace is, the Dr's I have, will not use them as a result of this complaint, which I have shared with them. I also know all those Dr's have shared this information with their partners. So, that is at least 20 Dr.'s in the OKC area that will not be sending them patients. Their reason, they don't do any business with companies that do not put a premium on patient privacy.

Apria in Sacramento was the same way until I found someone who knew what she was doing. Unfortuneately she just quit to go to Medical School. Our loss.

I had so much trouble with Apria's billing department a couple of years ago I
escalated it out of "accounting" to their "boss". I explained to the "boss" that
I supplemental insurance, all apria had do do was fax the number I had given
Apria the last few months and they would be paid. I was thanked and the problem went away.

Apria does not train their people very well, with a few exceptions. Being nice
to them is a waste of time. I don't mean call them names, just ask for the
next person in line and their bosses name. I write down EVERYTHING. time,
date, person's name and so on.

I offended a few people on this forum when they complained about Apria, but
did not want to do what you did. I will call their CEO if I have to. AND I tell
my insurance company about them. Of course, due to SSDI, I am on Medicare 4 years early.

Did you know once you are "given" Medicare, you CANNOT quit. You can quit part B and don't have to take part D (I think), but I begged to get off Medicare and I was told "It is free, why would you want to get off?" Grrrrrr.

Good luck with your Apria people, but you did the right thing. Don't back down, ask who Karen's boss is and send it up the chain of command. PLUS
document their poor service.

Last, when you speak to the local manager, ask that person who is their
'go to" person. Every good manager finds a "go to" person who can solve
their problems. I still have two here, so I guess I am stuck with Apria for
the moment. Take care and don't back down.....

Well I finally found a responsive employee and decided that I would stop complaining about the A--- people, but instead would start praising their good employees and hopefully would improve their service.

The only snag that she didn't follow through so I never got to send that praise letter!!!!

She was really good at the start. She was trying to clean up an error they made when they set me up for O2 treatment. But my guess is that she wasn't able to clean up the error (my O2 stats weren't bad enough) so she lost interest in me. They must have lost a bundle, say four months at $500 a month because of their set up mistakes.

I wonder how they stay in business, but I guess thats not my business.

John M