Could DME's and Doctors Really be THIS STOOPID???

[archangle]

You are treating 2nd and 3rd hand information as "fact". Every time a story gets retold it gets further from the truth. This is exacerbated by the gap in understanding between a provider and a patient.

A "good RT" is not just one that know's what they are doing, they are good at explaining things to patients so the patient understands what is being said.

I would guess that 90% of the time a patient thinks they are smarter than their provider, they are wrong. Now this very well could be one of those 10% instances. But to "assume" that....well, you know the rest.

There are an adequate number of reports here and on other boards of cases where the doctor, DME, or RT has done something really stupid. Some of the stories may be misunderstandings or lies, but there are far too many cases for there to not be a core of truth. In many cases, we have discussed things with the person reporting things and double checked what he heard.

Look at how many people end up with dataless bricks, and their doctors have no clue that there is anything wrong with that.

No, they're not all stupid or corrupt, but there are far too many reports of frankly wrong statements from the medical professionals for it to be that rare.

I've heard that "90%" number before from medical professionals in cases where they were accused of being wrong. It seems that it's sort of some magic mantra to protect themselves from the taint of fallibility and accountability.

[bwexler]

I would guess that 90% of the time a patient thinks they are smarter than their provider, they are wrong. Now this very well could be one of those 10% instances. But to "assume" that....well, you know the rest.

That may e because 90% of the patients are smart at there day jobs but ignorant when they start XPAP. I was lucky enough to find this site between the time of my first sleep study and looking for a doctor to wright my prescription. I chose an old friend who happened to be an MD and a paper who used an S9 Autoset himself. He wrote my prescription and sent me to his DME, a small outfit that couldn't do enough for me. They even wanted to keep sending me supplies after my insurance told me they would no longer pay out of network providers. They never even remembered to bill me for copays.
I know I am smarter than my primary care doc when it comes to CPAP, he told me so. I know I am smarter than some of the RTs at Apria, but not all of them. I had a good one on the phone yesterday but not the day before.

[Bama Rambler]

A "good RT" is not just one that know's what they are doing, they are good at explaining things to patients so the patient understands what is being said.

So Jaycee, assuming that you're one of those "good" RT's, why don't you tell us what a report from a brick looks like when compared to a full efficacy data machine? Surely you've seen both.

[Sleepster]

I would guess that 90% of the time a patient thinks they are smarter than their provider, they are wrong.

It's not an issue of how smart someone is, it's an issue of being informed, and as you said, of knowing how to talk to people. That goes for both the provider and the patient.

Medical providers and patients make mistakes because they are human. Some of them tell outright lies, some of them are not very good at explaining things, and a lot of the medical providers are not respiratory therapists. In almost every discussion I've ever had with DME employees a respiratory therapist was not involved. Usually they are clerks or office managers with no medical degree.

This thread is not about all medical providers being stupid, it's a conjecture about a particular display of stupidity by some medical providers.

[PsychoMike]

It's not an issue of how smart someone is, it's an issue of being informed, and as you said, of knowing how to talk to people. That goes for both the provider and the patient.

Medical providers and patients make mistakes because they are human. Some of them tell outright lies, some of them are not very good at explaining things, and a lot of the medical providers are not respiratory therapists. In almost every discussion I've ever had with DME employees a respiratory therapist was not involved. Usually they are clerks or office managers with no medical degree.

I don't want to pour gasoline on this fire, but from my experience, this ^^ is definitely a contributing factor. As an informed patient wanting to be proactive in my therapy I may not be correct in my information or "smarter" than an RT, but if my DME is having a clerk look at my data, I wouldn't assume that they are going to have it right either.

And just because someone has an RT designation, doesn't mean they are 100% either. My biggest "huh?" moment with my DME comes thanks to an RT...I've been told many times by this person that my 95% leak rate and 95% pressure are the leaks and pressures I am at 95% of the time on the machine (vs 95% of the time I am less than those numbers with my mean values being considerably less). I.E. - my settings are 9-17, mean pressure is ~9.4 and 95% is 12....it's been implied by the RT we may need to bump my setting to 12 because that's where I am 95% of the time.

[diamaunt]

. My biggest "huh?" moment with my DME comes thanks to an RT...I've been told many times by this person that my 95% leak rate and 95% pressure are the leaks and pressures I am at 95% of the time on the machine (vs 95% of the time I am less than those numbers with my mean values being considerably less). I.E. - my settings are 9-17, mean pressure is ~9.4 and 95% is 12....it's been implied by the RT we may need to bump my setting to 12 because that's where I am 95% of the time.

if you still have contact with that basic math challenged RT, send 'em this:
http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blogs...de-to.html

[archangle]

if you still have contact with that basic math challenged RT, send 'em this:
http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blogs...de-to.html

They'll probably tell you it's illegal to read that web page.

[diamaunt]

if you still have contact with that basic math challenged RT, send 'em this:
http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blogs...de-to.html

They'll probably tell you it's illegal to read that web page.

never having dealt with a DME myself, but having read the stories everybody else tells, if they tell you something is illegal, then it's probably mandatory that you should do it