SleepMed to me, is and during my few visits was quite confusing and possibly not run the way I think it should be.
To begin, I was referred to SleepMed from Midwest Sleep Physicians regarding some sleep apnea and health issues. I'll spare you the major details, but I needed to get a sleep machine to help me out during the night. What I didn't know and what was confusing was SleepMed is in the same building as Midwest Sleep Physicians and even shared the same lobby and at least up front office staff. I didn't know SleepMed was a separate business until after I picked up my machine and everything got submitted to insurance. That's when things went a bit haywire.
I came in and picked up my hardware and a woman working in the office showed me how the machine works and how to change out parts. Cool. Unfortunately when everything was submitted to insurance it was rejected because the practice wasn't included in my insurance network. I called into my insurance company, confused saying that I had no issues with my office visits and my sleep study and wondering why they were suddenly balking. I tried calling the SleepMed office however nobody would return my call, so I picked up all my materials and brought them back to the office. Here, upon talking to the staff, I learned that SleepMed and Midwest Physicians Group were different companies because medical doctors aren't allowed sell and dispense medical equipment (I may not be 100% correct what this last statement, but this is pretty much what I got out of it.)
Anyway, moving on because insurance companies are so easy to work with, since SleepMed was out of network, there was a special way to submit their items for payment with my insurance company, so that they would be paid. This process wasn't followed when my claim was first submitted, which isn't the biggest problem, but could have been easily solved if the office manager would have timely returned any of my calls. Instead I got a bit of run around and then a little grief from the staff for walking in and asking what was going on. I wasn't looking for attitude, I just wanted answers.
The big lesson here is, make sure you talk to your doctor about your newly prescribed equipment and ask for different options to choose from. Also, don't take your doctor's word for it, please call your insurance company and make sure you fully understand what is authorized and what you are getting. It might save you a big head ache. read more