Can someone please tell me how a doctor's prescription should be written for a chamber, and an oxygen concentrator ?
For example, does the doctor have to include the disease condition being treated ? What exactly does he write down on the prescription ?
Thank you
Posted by Blackstone (Member # 9453) on :
An oxygen concentrator (as in the portable, commonly used in lieu of tank oxygen, type?) is a medical device.
Your physician should be able to write for it the same as any device, where they'll need to have the proper ICD (diagnosis) codes that may be relevant in order to get it covered by insurance. Note that depending on your insurance, you may need prior authorization too which your doctor will need to be involved in procuring.
Overall, they'll need to specify the item necessary and why - including what it is treating. Its likely that most insurances will NOT simply accept Lyme or another tick-borne illness as sole justification, but alongside tick borne illness codes your doc should also include codes for the symptoms that mean you need an O2 concentrator (ie Whatever makes it hard for you to breathe or exchange O2 properly. Do you have lung damage, COPD etc... ).
In short, insurance will need to see something that to them justifies the use of an oxygen concentrator. I can't tell you exactly what he needs to write because it will come down to your particular situation.
Once you have that Rx and/or go through prior authorization, you'll need to find a medical device vendor that works with your insurance. Your doc can call up and make sure that what they have available will work for you. Once you're sure of that and have insurance coverage, it will be delivered to you.
Now, when you mention a chamber... you mean hyperbaric, right? Are you talking about a Rx for hyperbaric treatment at a local hospital / clinic? Or do you mean actually renting/buying a chamber for home use?