DME did not enable EPR on S9 Autoset

[cpap681]

Hi,
I have been a happy user of a Respironics System One for almost 3 years (have not missed a single night!). Based on my great experience, I finally convinced my brother-in-law to get a sleep study. He was diagnosed moderate to severe. After the consults, etc. he was off to the DME.

That is where the story gets ugly. The DME spent little if any time discussing masks and options. Already had one "selected" for him. When he mentioned that I had great success with Swift SX nasal pillows, he replied "yeah, but we are going to try this one out first". My guess is he had already done the paperwork and was not to be bothered with checking out or even discussing other options.

Anyway, his machine is ResMed S9 Autoset with Hi5 and climateline. Clearly a top line machine. However, the DME did not enable Sleep Quality information (left on Default) nor did he enable EPR or Smart Start.

My guess is DME just set the pressures and was done with it. My question here is there any reason why I should not show him how to go in and activate EPR since that is a "Patient Comfort" setting rather than a "Therapy" setting? For me on my Respironics machine, the exhalation relieve settings were a big deal in getting comfortable with machine.

Thanks for any input.

[robysue]

Anyway, his machine is ResMed S9 Autoset with Hi5 and climateline. Clearly a top line machine. However, the DME did not enable Sleep Quality information (left on Default) nor did he enable EPR or Smart Start.

My guess is DME just set the pressures and was done with it. My question here is there any reason why I should not show him how to go in and activate EPR since that is a "Patient Comfort" setting rather than a "Therapy" setting? For me on my Respironics machine, the exhalation relieve settings were a big deal in getting comfortable with machine.

Do your brother-in-law a huge favor and turn on the EPR and set Sleep Quality to ON. And teach him how to read the data off the LCD in the morning. If he's into data, let him know about ResScan or SleepyHead.

And if you've got an old Swift FX mask that you're not using, let him have that too. There's no way that a DME can pick a good mask out for a person before they even talk to the person.

Better yet: If brother-in-law lives in the same metro area as you do, let him know who you use for your DME and encourage him to switch to a better one.

[trish6hundred]

Hi cpap681,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
What robysue said.
Hang in there for more suggestions and best of luck to you and your brother inlaw with his CPAP therapy.

[zonk]

However, the DME did not enable Sleep Quality information (left on Default) nor did he enable EPR or Smart Start.

Yes these are default settings, You can set "sleep quality" to on otherwise no efficacy data (just hours using the machine each night if left on "usage"). EPR something you have to experiment with the levels, not everyone like or use smart start ... everyone is different
You can choose to set the other setting on "patient" so you can change in "patient setup menu" which is easier than going to clinical menu every time you want change something

[cpap681]

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I did go in and check and the EPR was actually enabled and set to 3, it was just blocked from being visible to patient. Not the way I would think a responsible DME would have set up the machine. This should have been explained to the patient.

I did set "Sleep Quality" to "On" but after the change, AHI etc was listed on the patient screen but no data was populated. I have to assume that On will just provide data in the future rather than going back and repopulating the information.

I also set up "Auto Start" so that he could control it from patient screen.

If my brother in law were local, I could set him up with my DME but he is in different state. I have encouraged him to seek out a different tech or switch DME's since this one was just lousy. Hopefully with my help and suggestions, I can keep him from getting too frustrated.

Thanks again for all of the help!

[robysue]

I did set "Sleep Quality" to "On" but after the change, AHI etc was listed on the patient screen but no data was populated. I have to assume that On will just provide data in the future rather than going back and repopulating the information

You are correct: While Sleep Quality was set to Usage, the machine didn't bother to record any of the efficacy data and there's no way to recreate it.

I did go in and check and the EPR was actually enabled and set to 3, it was just blocked from being visible to patient. Not the way I would think a responsible DME would have set up the machine. This should have been explained to the patient.

You are correct, but it seems as though many a DME wants its patients to know little or nothing about their therapy and their CPAP other than "Here's how you turn it on." Sad, when you think about it.

I also set up "Auto Start" so that he could control it from patient screen.

If my brother in law were local, I could set him up with my DME but he is in different state. I have encouraged him to seek out a different tech or switch DME's since this one was just lousy. Hopefully with my help and suggestions, I can keep him from getting too frustrated.

If brother-in-law is not adverse to joining an internet forum, point him this way and encourage him to join.

[JimZZZ]

My guess is DME just set the pressures and was done with it.

Exactly what my DME did when I started! If your sleep doc and DME are too busy or unconcerned to help, you can read this forum and experiment with settings until your SleepyHead/ResScan data tells you you've got it right for you. Thanks for the forum!

[PaytonA]

My guess is DME just set the pressures and was done with it.

Thanks for any input.

Exactly what my DME did when the machine was first issued to me. Maybe we have the same DME.

Best Regards,

PaytonA