Always purchase respiratory equipment from a local reputable medical supply company, by Andy Scolnick at Seventh Street Medical Supply

Always purchase respiratory equipment from a local reputable medical supply company. 

I don’t care how much money you can save by buying equipment through a “Basement Internet Site”!  DON’T DO IT…

It’s not worth it… There are too many factors and possibilities of malfunction that go wrong with this type of equipment.  I personally see it every day!

·         The hours on units can be reset or replaced.  You have no way of knowing if it is new or used.

·         Items like this are recalled and updates are needed that manufacturers offer.  Every unit that leaves our facility is serialized in case of any type of recall or retrofit that needs to be done.  Only certified dealers will get these notices.

·         Oxygen & CPAP equipment need to be calibrated and checked by a professional technician on a regular basis.  Our office uses and internal diary system to do this task.

·         With CPAP & BIPAP patients, your settings may need to be changed within a week after you receive your new unit.  If your unit was received over the Internet, now what are you going to do?

·         4 out of 5 patients don’t like the original CPAP mask they were supplied with.  Our company offers a return policy (wear the mask for up to a week and if you don’t like the fit, bring it back to my office and we will give you another mask the same day).  No “Basement Internet Site” can offer that!

·         Just recently, a major CPAP company that I deal with had bad motor fans.  I did not find this out until calls started to come in from our patient’s complaining of a weird loud noise that was coming out from their unit.   The whole shipment of CPAP & BIPAPS that were sent across the country was bad!  Our company was able to replace these units at our patient’s home the same day.  There is no way possible any “Basement Internet Site” could do that for anyone.  They do not have the resourses available and they have no technical education on this type of equipment to trouble shoot any issues.  In my opinion, they could care less.  It’s all about the initial sale and the buck stops there.

·         All oxygen concentrators have internal filters that need to be changed on periodic intervals.  Our patient’s are set on a diary system and serviced per the individual manufacturer guidelines.

·         ATTENTION ALL OXYGEN PATIENTS THAT HAVE CONCENTRATORS; Just because you feel air coming out of the nasal cannula, doesn’t mean you are getting the proper oxygen in your system.  Our company uses analyzers’ that measure the purity and pressure of oxygen coming out of the units.  On routine basis these things are checked and filters are replaced.  How can any “Basement Internet Site” do this for you or a loved one…….they can’t!

·         I get calls every day at all hours of the day from oxygen and CPAP patients with technical questions and issues.  Some of those questions are solved immediately over the phone and some need immediate assistance at the patient’s home.  No “Basement Internet Site” has 24 hour service for in-home emergency services.  They might be able to take a new order, but that’s it.

·         Recently, an oxygen patient came to my office with a regulator he purchased on ebay.  He asked me to look at it for him.  It so happens, it was a regulator that in 2001 was recalled by the FDA.   8 years later this item was still circulating around.  How it found its way on ebay, I can’t imagine.

I have based this blog solely on respiratory equipment, but I assure you it doesn’t stop there.

I see scooters and power chairs everyday on the Internet.  What you might not realize is that they also have recalls and optional retrofits that are needed.  There is always some sort of issues with power chairs and scooters.  They are used every day and take a beating. I guarantee you that if you purchase a power vehicle on the Internet you will never get any notice that your item needs service.  Several years ago, a major reputable company in our industry that sells power mobility equipment had a recall on their “Tiller Throttle Control”.  The throttle control is the part that you use with your right and left thumb to go forward and backward.  It works on a spring.  Well, the spring was breaking, and needless to say, people were smashing into the walls.  Our company was contacted by the manufacturer with all the serialized scooters that were sent to us.  We were provided all the parts to replace with a new designed spring and PAID by the manufacturer to replace these parts to make the units safe again.  Our company was able to complete this task swiftly before any of our patients were injured.  There is no way any “Basement Internet Site” has the resources or knowledge to have done what we did.

 I can’t stress enough; you need to purchase medical equipment from your local reputable medical supply company.  You owe it to yourself or a family member to at least stop by a neighborhood shop and learn about the ins and outs of the item you’re interested in before the big buy.

If you want to save money by buying something on the Internet, buy a pair of shoes!

Seventh Street Medical Supply, Inc has been in business for over 25 years!  We are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).  WE CARE ABOUT YOU AND WHAT WE DO FOR A LIVING.

Good Luck!

Andy Scolnick, VP

Seventh Street Medical Supply, Inc

307 E. Pennsylvania Blvd.

Feasterville, PA  19053

(215) 396-2450 or (800) 723-8110

www.seventhstreetmedicalsupply.com