My girlfriend had the same experience literally this week. The whole thing was Kafkaesque.
She got sent an at home sleep study kit. Set it up, did it. Waited, nothing. Had a run around between the sleep center and her physician. Eventually got a hold of someone. "Well, of course you don't have results, you need to send it back to us. And if you don't they'll charge you $1200 for it". "Uhh, the kit gave me a PIN and specifically said I could dispose of it afterwards" (she hadn't, yet, in case she needed to redo the test). "Oh, well, no-one told us that!" (How is this surprising to you?)
In any case, someone reviews her study, diagnoses her with sleep apnea, writes a script for a CPAP.
She surmises this, because she never spoke to anyone, or got any messages in her portal. She realizes when Apria calls her to verify and confirm details for the CPAP machine (I think she pays $170, then $19/month for 3 months to rent it while they establish compliance, and then if she is using it, Kaiser will pay for it).
She confirms everything and waits. And after a while, sees it's still in "label created" tracking status. Calls them. "Oh, we're waiting for this form from you", that until now she's never been told about. She gets it emailed to her, signs, scans, sends. Asks questions about mask options. "Your provider will discuss that with you."
Uhh, you're about to ship this now. She hasn't spoken to any provider, and the sleep center and the physician are debating over who should talk to her, I suppose?
So she looks over them with me. I'm not a doctor, though I'm a paramedic. I'm experienced with ventilators and occasionally giving acute patients CPAP treatments. So I can talk with just enough knowledge to be dangerous. So we pick out a mask, and finalize.
CPAP arrived on Friday. No-one's spoken to her about it, so she's like "I guess I just start wearing and using it". I had to adjust a few settings for her around pressure and ramp and EPR (expiratory pressure relief) to help someone new to therapy acclimate to how it works.
So, ironically, though not good by any definition, Apria ended up being the best part of the process.
She got sent an at home sleep study kit. Set it up, did it. Waited, nothing. Had a run around between the sleep center and her physician. Eventually got a hold of someone. "Well, of course you don't have results, you need to send it back to us. And if you don't they'll charge you $1200 for it". "Uhh, the kit gave me a PIN and specifically said I could dispose of it afterwards" (she hadn't, yet, in case she needed to redo the test). "Oh, well, no-one told us that!" (How is this surprising to you?)
In any case, someone reviews her study, diagnoses her with sleep apnea, writes a script for a CPAP.
She surmises this, because she never spoke to anyone, or got any messages in her portal. She realizes when Apria calls her to verify and confirm details for the CPAP machine (I think she pays $170, then $19/month for 3 months to rent it while they establish compliance, and then if she is using it, Kaiser will pay for it).
She confirms everything and waits. And after a while, sees it's still in "label created" tracking status. Calls them. "Oh, we're waiting for this form from you", that until now she's never been told about. She gets it emailed to her, signs, scans, sends. Asks questions about mask options. "Your provider will discuss that with you."
Uhh, you're about to ship this now. She hasn't spoken to any provider, and the sleep center and the physician are debating over who should talk to her, I suppose?
So she looks over them with me. I'm not a doctor, though I'm a paramedic. I'm experienced with ventilators and occasionally giving acute patients CPAP treatments. So I can talk with just enough knowledge to be dangerous. So we pick out a mask, and finalize.
CPAP arrived on Friday. No-one's spoken to her about it, so she's like "I guess I just start wearing and using it". I had to adjust a few settings for her around pressure and ramp and EPR (expiratory pressure relief) to help someone new to therapy acclimate to how it works.
So, ironically, though not good by any definition, Apria ended up being the best part of the process.