Where to get instill supplies?

[Flowerchild]

I will now be doing instills at home. I have the prescriptions but have called around and am having trouble finding everything in one place, finding a supplier that will file my insurance ect...I have looked at a company (Edgepark) online and called several local pharmacys. My insurance will not cover any durable medical equipment(caths, syringes, needles)The costs go towards my deductible.

Please I need suggestions!!!

One good thing...I did my instill all by myself with the nurse supervising and guiding me yesterday...it was easy as pie!!!!!!!!!!

[sailawaygrl]

I get my syringes, catheters and marcaine from a local pharmacy that can order them for me. The cost of syringes went up drastically about 6 months go. Usually you can get the supplies from a locally owned pharmacy. I know that Target pharmacies can usually order the meds for the instills but not the catheters or syringes.

Hope this helps some,

Sandra

[Flowerchild]

What type of cateter do you use? In the office they used what looked like a 16", clear tube with a white funnel end catheter.

[JKS]

Hi,

I got some catheters from a medical supply company. My insurance covers those but you can look Amazon for them too. My insurance doesn't cover other supples so I get the rest of the supplies from Amazon. Make sure you get a 60cc tempura syringe so it will connect to the catheter. I got a male catheter so it is easier to work with. I know I got some samples from Lo-Fri which there is a link on this site. I get the syringes and needles to pull up the meds from my pharmacy free! I just asked them for something to pull up the meds since the lids don't come off easy. They will usually give me the same number as lidocaine vials I get. I just use the same needle and syringe for my lidocaine and heparin. My Bicarb has it's own syringe. It is worth a try to ask!

[sailawaygrl]

I use an 8Fr catheter, which is 8 french. The smaller the number the smaller that cath. Some people use an infant feeding tube that you can have ordered for you. They are made by bard. I use a 60ml lure lock syringe. 18gauge needles, one inch. My caths have a funnel tip but I can get the funnel around the catheter. If you do the other syringe you are going to have to use two different ones. JKS is lucky that her pharmacy gives them to her for free, I don't know of any that will do that here!

You can order them online or I just find it easier to have my local pharmacy order them for me.

L Thomas is an excellent person to ask for help on doing home instills.

Sandra

[L. Thomas]

Durable goods are not covered on my policy under the prescription drugs portion. If I take the prescription to the pharmacy, they will fill it but I pay retail cost.

I do have to take a prescription to a durable goods supplier. The needles are not covered on my plan.. I do have to meed the deductible but it is the regular deductible on the policy. At that point catheters are $1 each and the syringes are $0.10 each. I think before the deductible the catheters are $4 and the syringe is $1.17. You will pay the adjusted cost the insurance will pay, not cost that is billed. In other words, you get the same discount on the cost as your insurance company would pay after the deductible is met. You can ask your MD to write the prescription for more supplies than you need so you don't have to make trips to the supplier all the time. My supplier will fill a prescription for a year's supply at one time if the prescription is written for that number..NOT 90 and refill 4 times.

You can also check with you MD and find out if he will allow you to reuse and supplies.
Dr Dell will allow me to use a catheter 4 times. Several have posted their MD will allow the syringe to be reused.

There is also something called "speciality pharmacy" in my plan. This pharmacy compounds and mixes special prescriptions for unusual meds, like antirejection or cancer treatment. That is also an option for me. Using the speciality pharmacy on my policy cost at the highest copay and can only be filled for a 30 day supply.

Before I found how to get the insurance company to cover the supplies I had decided I was going to ask my vet to order the supplies..they are exactly the same as the ones that are used on humans. Another suggestion is to talk to your dentist and explain the problem. You could provide him with the prescription so he would know that it was a medical need. Of course your insurance wouldn't cover it but he would probably give you a better price than the pharmacy. Large retail pharmacies will not help you but if you have a "mom and pop" local pharmacy cry on their shoulder..

If none of these suggestions make an appointment with the MD. I would NOT talk to the office staff. Tell them you need to talk with him about the instills. If they suggest talking with his nurse I would insist that I talk with the MD. I would explain all the things I had tired and ask if he has any suggestions. I would make sure I had the prices of the items when I talked with him. He might be willing to order the supplies for you or have other suggestions. I am sure he needs the same supplies in his office for instills. Most MD's don't have a clue how much the meds or how difficult it is to get the supplies covered.

He might work with you so you could use an internet provider by giving the provider the information they need for the supplies.
Most internet sources will only sell the needles to medical professionals. Just this week I found out that all doctors that are in private practice have be registered with a group called "Med Solutions" and are given some sort of "number" This is the number that has to be provided to the sites that will not sell to the general public.

Don't give up yet. After all they will give you an answer and it will be "Yes" "no" or "maybe". I have learned "maybe" is a no for now. And also remember you are probably not the only person with this problem. He should be concerned about this situation.

I guess if he is not then I would say he is an insenstive clod.

[Flowerchild]

I ended up getting my supplies at my local independently owned pharmacy and had an insurance discount on some of the supplies. They had the best price out of many I priced. Got some sample LoFric caths in the mail too. I'll keep investigating to see if I can get a better price. Not sure I like the caths but I am new at home instills so it could just be me.

Thanks all for your suggestions..very helpfull!!!!!

[kadi]

I use 180 Medical for my catheters, syringes & lubricants. They UPS me a shipment once a month. They are contract providers for my insurance company, so that keeps the price reasonable. They don't sell the needles for my 30cc syringes to get the meds out of the bottles, so I've bought those through amazon.com without a prescription (I know, weird!). In a pinch, I've also ordered both 60cc catheter tip syringes and 30cc luerlok syringes through amazon when I've had insurance hassles. The medical supply companies on amazon did not require insurance or prescriptions.

Target Pharmacy orders my sodium bicarbonate, marcaine & sterile water. I go pick it up. I & my doctor do have to appeal to my insurance company once a year to cover these. Medco does not usually cover them.

But, I get my heparin via medco mail service and that way it is the least expensive.

I've done home instillations for 6 years and I've only had one year and one company that would do it all. Unfortunately, they stopped being contract providers with my insurance and then I couldn't afford them anymore. So now I have to use 3 different companies. it's a hassle, but at least the heparin comes in a 3 month supply, the durable medical supplies come automatically, so it's just the Target order I have to write on my calendar to remember.

Hope that helps a little! I'm glad the home instillations are helping you. They have saved my career and the quality of my life.