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Advice for home med company
Hi All,
I'm working on finding a good company for my home medical supply. I called a place that I use for my mom's supplies -- they don't do cpap but they advised me on another company. I called them and they only offer the Respironics M Series and one other machines. They have a mask buy-back; if your mask isn't working out they buy it back if you've only had a few months, otherwise she said my insurance will pay for a new mask every three months. Also, they have RT's that come to the home.
Should I go with this small local company or one of the bigger firms? I want the data capable machine and it sounds like that's what they have.
I live in Southern New Hampshire, so if someone has experience with a good company here, or in northeastern Massachusetts, or if you use a big outfit that you like -- I'm all ears.
Anne in NH
I'm working on finding a good company for my home medical supply. I called a place that I use for my mom's supplies -- they don't do cpap but they advised me on another company. I called them and they only offer the Respironics M Series and one other machines. They have a mask buy-back; if your mask isn't working out they buy it back if you've only had a few months, otherwise she said my insurance will pay for a new mask every three months. Also, they have RT's that come to the home.
Should I go with this small local company or one of the bigger firms? I want the data capable machine and it sounds like that's what they have.
I live in Southern New Hampshire, so if someone has experience with a good company here, or in northeastern Massachusetts, or if you use a big outfit that you like -- I'm all ears.
Anne in NH
Views: 58
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Daniel on
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Actually, AutoCPAPs are smarter than Mike gives them credit for. The algorithms that decide when to raise pressure on a REMstar Auto actually are proactive. They don't wait for you to have an apnea or hypopnea first. They are designed to react to "pre-hypopnea events," which are flow limitation and vibratory snore. They also compare your current breath cycle to a moving average of previous breaths. If breathing is becoming less stable, up goes the pressure. On top of that, it does little tests every few minutes, raising and lowering pressure, even if everything is going fine, to see if it can be even better. Pretty darn smart, indeed.
Mike said:Yes, it has the ramp feature. I don't use it. But it's there. Also, about how smart the machines are... they're pretty smart, yes, but they are reactive to your breathing needs, meaning they can only adjust to what problems you already have, but cannot "sense" an apnea/hypopnea "coming on," if that makes any sense. that said, i agree with you that they're pretty darn smart.
Anne Pf said:Thank you, Mike, that is very clear. My only questions was about the "auto" cpap, and you explained that quite well. I am amazed that these machines are so smart.
Will a Respironics M series machine have the "ramp" feature that I've heard about?
Anne
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Permalink Reply by Anne Pf on
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Melissa,
I got my machine today and I was very pleased with the education I received from the respiratory therapist. She spent well over an hour with me, and she showed me a wide range of masks. She seemed very experienced with the equipment -- told me what complaints she has about different things, and which things seem to work well for people.
She told me that I was the first referral they had had from the sleep center that I went to -- that's because I called around and did some research to find the company that was most highly regarded in the area, and then I called the sleep center and told them which company I wanted. They were all set to send my orders to a large company. I'm glad I didn't let them.
Hope I sleep well tonight..
Anne
Melissa said:Well take it from a respiratory therapist that works for a small company, go with the small company. I have worked for both, and I will tell you that the smaller companies will take much better care of you as a patient. some of the larger companies don't even use respiratory therapists to set-you up. At the small company i work for, we offer a wide range of cpap and bipap machines, as well as almost any mask you can think of.
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Well, I made it about 6 hours on CPAP and then I just had to take it off. Not bad for a first night.
BTW I have the "Swift LT for her" nasal pillows. If that means anything to you all.
Anne
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Sounds like you're off to a great start, and that you've found a provider who knows what she's doing. Congratulations.
Anne Pf said:Well, I made it about 6 hours on CPAP and then I just had to take it off. Not bad for a first night.
BTW I have the "Swift LT for her" nasal pillows. If that means anything to you all.
Anne
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