Dreamstation 2 Advanced PIN

[SarcasticDave94]

I'm one that if they bug me too much I'll fire them. Just saying.

[Crimson Nape]

You didn't mention that. You said you bought it out-of-pocket, thus it was understood everything is on your dime.

[JayCo]

I thought (perhaps incorrectly) that if I bought the machine outright, and could show usage, that the ins company would still pay for masks, tubes, etc. I'm tempted to shut it all down just due to the hassle, and pay out of pocket, but we shouldn't (in my opinion) have to go through all of this. There are medications that people need that cost way more and have much less scrutiny.

[SarcasticDave94]

My DME just asks if I'm using the PAP. Yes then supplies are shipped. They do not need to have detailed complaint data to continue shipping supplies. Needing detailed compliance data for supply shipments is bogus.

[Sleeprider]

If your Dreamstation 2 is delivered with a PIN, a factory reset will clear it. This removes all data and settings, so users need to know what they are doing to reset the machine pressure to the desired target. Entering an incorrect PIN 8-times brings up a factory reset option. I believe a backup of any SD card data can be retained, and OSCAR data is not affected.

We will probably add this information to the CPAP Setup Manuals section here: https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p...manual#ONE

[Hydrangea]

Re: compliance

You should call your insurance company and find out exactly what they require. Some require compliance just for the first x# months, in order for them to be willing to pay for the machine and supplies forevermore. My insurance company doesn't require any compliance (despite my DME trying to misinform me otherwise) - they happily pay for my machine and my monthly supplies, and I don't have to prove I even use it.


Re: Airplane Mode & compliance

You could keep Airplane Mode on, and then selectively turn it off in order to send your info when you want to, and then turn it right back on. Perhaps you'd send your info 1x/month, or 1x/4months, etc... whatever your *insurance* requires (not whenever your DME wants it).

[cathyf]

Small town denizen here. There is no DME here that's in our insurance. (There used to be a DME here but it seems to have disappeared.) When I first started on CPAP I worked 35 miles away (actually in a different state, LOL) and picked a DME that was in the town that I worked at. Then 15 months later that DME dropped out of my insurance. I made an appointment with the local Lincare office and the RT there helped me find a new mask (an Amara View) because I had lost 130 lbs and the original mask just didn't fit. So I stayed with Lincare for a couple of years. But they are just mail order supply fulfillment and I ended up with gobs of supplies that I never used. The annoying end of that was that I participated in a PR mask study because I was an Amara View user, and when the Dreamwear came out I wanted to try it. They told me on the phone that they could only send me more of the Amara View and I had to go in person to change masks. So I made an appointment at a Lincare office in another county. When I got there it was clear that the RT had no idea that I was coming but fortunately happened to have a size small Dreamwear which I got. And they never charged me for! So the whole "go with a national chain, because they have offices all over" was a fail! I had had it with them, and realized that one of my Girl Scout leader friends started working at a DME that was in the town of my new job so I transferred to there.

This was now December 2018, and I found out when I arrived at the new place that my machine was still locked to the original DME that sold me the machine back in 2014, and that had dropped out of my insurance 3 years before. (I had my SD card with me and the RT downloaded it -- otherwise they would have had no data.)

And now it's 2.5 years later, and my friend still works at my DME (it's a small 3-store chain), and so I know that they are still locked out. I took my card with me when I went to the fancy sleep center.

Do you remember when we were kids and were bad and the teachers would tell you to be careful because this would go on your permanent record! ? Well my family moved a lot when I was a kid, and I went to lots of different schools. By 4th grade when I was in my 4th school I sagely told all my new friends don't worry, guys, there is NO permanent record -- no one is that organized! 

And that's been my experience with the DMEs -- you could only HOPE that they could be organized enough to control your machine.

Look nobody tells a diabetic that they aren't allowed to measure their own blood sugar and adjust their own insulin dose to the measurement -- that wouldn't just be malpractice but actually homicide! That's my one non-negotiable criteria when working with the medical profession -- "informed consent" means me not them. It means that I am informed and I consent. Their ethical and legal obligation is to get my consent. Any other way is not just malpractice it's assault.

[SuperSleeper]

Don't know about the DreamStation 2 machines, but the regular DreamStation machines had a removable cellular modem, under a door.  For compliance, I simply plugged the modem in, waited for it to show a signal strength, then initiated a manual upload of data once per week.  That would take about 4-5 minutes.  Then out came the modem and set aside until next week. 

So, it's only communicating during a data upload via the cellular modem.

Regarding Airplane mode, on the old Dreamstations, you could put it in airplane mode, but next time the machine was turned off, it would start up again with the modem fully active.  So you'd have to put it in airplane mode every night.  That's why I removed the modem and put it back in to upload data on my own schedule.  When I was given the machine, the DME had it set up per the script, which was "wide open" at 4.-20 cmH20.  Once thing I noticed that if I reset the machine settings to my own personalized pressure ranges, and the modem wasn't removed, my new pressures would get over-written back to the old pressures of 4-20.  Not acceptible.  That's why I removed the modem and only put it in to upload data for a short period of time.  Doing that allowed the DME/doc to get my compliance data, but didn't allow enough time for their software to remotely change my revised settings.

[Dog Slobber]

You have the right to decline any testing, monitoring or procedures.  It would be interesting to know exactly how you defeated the PIN code.

To defeat the DreamStation PIN, enter an incorrect PIN 8 times. You'll then be prompted with an option to clear all data and reset the device to factory. You can now reconfigure the device.