The big topic on everyone’s mind regarding CPAP lately has been compliance. Let me explain what compliance is and why it is so important.
So you may be asking “What is compliance?”
Compliance is the measurement of how much you use your CPAP machine and if it is working for you. As far as Medicare is concerned, you are not compliant unless you are using your machine at least 4 hours each night for 70% of the nights. So, if you use your machine 22 days out of 30 for at least 4 hours a night you are compliant. If you use your machine for 3 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds, well, that night you did not use it enough so you were noncompliant.
But wait, there’s more…
For Medicare to accept that you are compliant your physician must say that you are. By simply showing that you use the machine enough either with a download from the machine or by visual inspection of the machine and reading the hours of theraputic use is not enough. You must also visit your doctor within the 30th and 91st day of receving your CPAP machine.
The reason Medicare wants you to go back to your physician is because they want to make sure people are seeing results; that people being treated for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) are feeling better. They, like the rest of us, want to get something out of their money. And when people use CPAP machines to treat OSA it does make a difference. There have been several studies showing that the medical costs of a patient with OSA drop by about 50% if they are compliant with their CPAP machine.
Why is this important for me?
This is important for you because if you are noncompliant you have three options under Medicare’s new guidelines. Either you pay for the machine out of your pocket, we have to come and pick it up, or you have to go back through another sleep study to determine that you really do need to have the CPAP therapy. Besides that, you will only feel the benefit of the machine if you are compliant. Why use a machine if you don’t feel any benefit and if you body doesn’t show any improvement?
We will work with you to get you through your compliance period and beyond. As a matter of fact Sound Oxygen Service has a compliance rate of over 90%. The industry status quo has shown to have a compliance rate of as little as 40% in some places.
We go the extra mile so you don’t have to
Getting you compliant is what we do. Whether we have to set you up at your home, fit you with a new mask, come and show you how to fit your mask, or come and re-teach how the machine works; we will help you become compliant and get the most out of your CPAP therapy.
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