supplies

[tyefly]

   Wanted to find out how everyone with nxstage gets their supplies..... I was told that Baxter will deliver the saline...which they already did....70 bags of the stuff.....  and then Nxstage will del all the fluids, cartiridge, tubing and everything that we use directly with the machine......  I was told that everything else I wll have  PU at the dialysis center when ever I need somthing.....like tape, gauze, needles....etc......     what a hassle that will be.... I thought everything would be shipped to me .....My dialysis unit that I had to switch to for home training is downtown  and parking is well ....bad....  and its 15 miles from my house....  Looks like I will have to PU the Nxstage machine and pureflo system my self and del it to my house....  Did all of you guys do this???  how do you guys get your supplies....??   I guess I thought that everything would be del to my house.....  I hope I dont have to beg to get supplies......

[Malibu]

We get saline and 2x2's, syringes and the like delivered from a company called McKessen (sic).  We get the Nxstage stuff delivered from Nxstage.  The clinic will supply us with the stuff that (I gather) they forget to order on our behalf. 

Why in the heck can we not order the stuff ourselves?  If it has to go through someone else it invariably will get screwed up.  To fill out a sheet and tell what you have on hand and then send it to an interim party -- instead of simply ordering what you need from the source is ridiculous.

Can you tell I am peeved about this idiotic ordering system?  You will be too when you get there. 

[willowtreewren]

We have to go in-center for a monthly check-up. The day before I e-mail an inventory of what supplies I need. They are ready for us when we arrive and are even loaded into our vehicle during the visit. It is easy-peasy. Our center supplies the saline. So, we get all the dialysate, drain lines, warmer bags and various other NxStage things from NxStage (here again I e-mail an inventory on the due date) and everything else, and I mean everything (except trash bags and paper towels) comes from our center.

[tyefly]

 Well if that is what everyone else is doing  then I guess that is the way it is......   I guess I just had a different picture.....  I will have to see how it works with this center.....  Yes and they did tell me that I would have to come to the center for  a month check up.... they said it would take several hours...... to meet with everyone...

[willowtreewren]

they said it would take several hours...... to meet with everyone...

Geeze Louise! Carl often gets a Venifer IV and he meets with everyone during that 20 +/- minutes, except the doctor (nurse, dietician, social worker). The doctor is VERY prompt. The longest we have ever been there is one hour. Hope it works that way for you.

Aleta

[jbeany]

Several hours?  My center scheduled everyone at the same time - I would be in the room with the doc, the nurse, the social worker and the dietitian all at once.  Even if they were behind schedule and we got off to a late start, it never took more than 30 minutes once we were all in the room.  How disorganized are these fools?

I used the same routine as willow - I just e-mailed a list of supplies to the nurse, and it was all packed up and ready to go.

I do remember transporting the machine home myself at the end of training.  The pureflow was shipped directly to me from NxStage, though.  The delivery people were supposed to stack and rotate all the supply stock, too, but I never had them do it - my room was so small, I had to rearrange furniture to get to the shelving and it was just easier to do it myself.

[HubbysPartner]

We have the same system as Aleta.  We go in center once a month.  I take along an order form for everything we need from them and they fill it during our visit and we load it in the car at the end.  We call in an inventory to NxStage once a month and they deliver the cartridges, saks and other NxStage machine supplies.  The only problem we have is that our center is usually out of something we need or doesn't have the right size gloves or gauze pads.       We have had to buy extra gloves to supplement and foam bandage rolls because my hubby is sensitive to the bandaids and paper tape.  Our visits are usually an hour to an hour and a half.  The Center delivered our machine and pureflow and a whole bunch of initial supplies when we first got home.

[Malibu]

When you are training it seems like the monthly clinic visit will be a long one but ours was less than 30 min.  And that was with an iron infusion.

[Bill Peckham]

Aleta's experience is about the same as mine - although NKC will deliver to your house or ship supplies if requested. They have their own distribution center and trucking but I go there to pick up my stuff saline, etc. to save the center some money. I'll do that today.

My center wanted me to provide supplies on hand but I instead say what it is I want. Fewer mistakes that way - or the mistakes that do occur are mine.

I schleped my NxStage machine home. When I switched to the B Braun and then the Aksys, NCK installed those. NKC delivered the chair and swapped it out when that was needed.

[Hanify]

Over here I believe everythng gets delivered by Baxters to your house EXCEPT for the saline which has to go through a pharmacy for some reason.  Big pain apparently.

[willowtreewren]

Bill, the inventory sheet the center gave me was to report what we had on hand, but I'm too much of a control freak  to leave it at that.

I redid the entire form and added the column of what I wanted to pick up. The center let's me know six months in advance when our appointments are going to be so I can plan ahead and know how much I'll need from month to month This way any mistakes are totally mine and I can't girpe about what someone else did. It also removes one step for the clinic, reducing possible errors.

I have reconfigured the order form from NxStage, too, to follow the same lines. I report what I have, but I now tell them what I want them to send. This works much better for us since we travel and I know how many bags vs. SAKS I'm going to need.

Kathy, you'll get used to all this, and you can learn from those like us who have already been there. 

[petey]

Our delivery is almost exactly like Willow's...NxStage sends all machine-related supplies after Marvin gives his inventory monthly (our rep is named Chris, and she calls once a month to see what we need -- she also spends more time "chatting" with Marvin about the weather down here, Marvin's youth baseball team, etc. than she actually does taking his inventory -- we love her!).  For the gauze, tape, saline, chux, needles, etc., we pick them up once a month when we go to the clinic for Marvin's check up (but I have to load them in the car  -- but I just pull around to the back door when we leave and load up).  Marvin faxes his "I need this much of this..." the day before our check up.

At the monthly checkups, it takes about 30-45 minutes total for Marvin to see the dietician, the social worker, the nurse, and the doctor.  We rarely ever wait more than 5 minutes to go back to see the crew.  This clinic (we had to switch when we went to home hemo) is about an hour from our house, but we make it a special time every month when we go and also go to Marvin's favorite restaurant (J. Michael's Philly Cheesesteaks) when we go.  Not too bad for us...

[Zog]

We get our supplies like most of the people who have replied.

DaVita gives us tape, gauze, drapes, syringes, EPO, heparin and needles during a monthly clinic visit.
NxStage sends NxStage supplies via UPS.
Our saline used to be delivered but not we have to haul it from DaVita.
NxStage will send a courier from the airport to replace our machine if it breaks.

[Zog]

Oh and one more thing.. our center gets the cheapest band-aids they can find.  We are stuck with Henry Schein now.  Their band-aids will tear skin off.  The best band-aids we have used are the Kendall Curity ones.

[Bill Peckham]

Oh and one more thing.. our center gets the cheapest band-aids they can find.  We are stuck with Henry Schein now.  Their band-aids will tear skin off.  The best band-aids we have used are the Kendall Curity ones.

I buy my non latex, easy to remove Band-Aids adhesive strips for this reason. The Walgreens brand works great for me - when they're on sale I buy all I can.

[rocker]

We get two deliveries a month, NxStage and McKesson.

McKesson is general medical supplies.  When we go in for clinic each month, they hand us a McKesson order form while we're waiting.  McKesson has two standard orders, catheter and fistula.  All you really have to do is circle catheter or fistula: 2x2s or 4x4s (for some reason, we can't have some of each. YOU MUST DECIDE!!): 1cc or 3cc syringes (for Epo), and write in the number of bottles of Heparin and boxes of saline you want.  Underneath they list the contents of the standard order.

I have tried to deviate from their standard order, with mixed results.  For example, the standard fistula order was 110 10ml syringes.  We kept running out.  So for three months, I crossed out 110 in the list and wrote 200 (with an arrow pointing to it).  First two months, I got 110.  Third try, they actually sent 200.  We don't go through sharps containers very fast, so I usually cross out the sharps container, but often get it anyway.

The McKesson order comes UPS and is usually dropped on the porch.

For NxStage, I email them our inventory on hand every month (PAKs, SAKs, bags, cartridges), and they send whatever they deem appropriate.  The NxStage stuff is delivered by courier, who is supposed to store them wherever you tell them in the house.  That's a nice touch, except when they send a driver who is about 80 and you find yourself saying "No, no, don't trouble yourself, right here is fine!" and stowing them yourself.

Our clinic has a tech (though I haven't seen him in a while) who delivered the machines and did the faucet hookup.  But when we moved, we moved the machines and did the plumbing ourselves.  (We very pointedly told the clinic we were moving, and no help was offered.)

[willowtreewren]

stuck with Henry Schein

Stuck with is an understatement! 

Bill, I'll have to look into the Walgreen's brand. We were just talking about how to use tape and tiny gauze pads in place of the adhesive strips. The Transpore tape doesn't irritate Carl's skin, nor does it rip it off like the Henry Shein.

[Malibu]

I was informed by our clinic that I was NOT to put what supplies I wanted.  They would have a cow if I were to redo the form. 

Now we sit with not enough supplies...  I'll have to figure out how to rectify this sticky (ha, I said stick) situation.

[willowtreewren]

Aw, Malibu.

They call us their star pupils because we make life so much easier for them. And we don't bother them with petty stuff.

One time when we were in clinic, there was a call for a nurse to help with a stick on the floor. Our nurse said, "Send Aleta out there! She could do it" LOL.

If you show that you are competent and are trying to get things organized for you AND them, they ought to appreciate it. Too bad they don't. I love the staff at our clinic. It helps that they have a healthy dose of humor. 

[Bill Peckham]

I was informed by our clinic that I was NOT to put what supplies I wanted.  They would have a cow if I were to redo the form. 

Now we sit with not enough supplies...  I'll have to figure out how to rectify this sticky (ha, I said stick) situation.

Deduct what you want for your stockpile from your supplies on hand. If you want to have two weeks (a good minimum) of supplies when you resupply, the two weeks is your stockpile. As far as the paper work goes the stockpile doesn't exist. It may take a few cycles to get your stockpile where you want it but it would be a good habit to develop.

[tyefly]

 thx everyone for the tips..... sure opens my eyes.....  I will just have to work with their system and then try to modify where I can.....   of course tackfully......LOL     I understand the center will funish home people with a D chair..... is this correct.??

[Malibu]

Good advice Aleta and Bill.

[willowtreewren]

Kathy, our center provided the chair, but I have read that other centers don't. Find out from them in time to get one if they don't. They provided a BP machine that automatically takes BP every 30 minutes (or whatever interval we want) and another one that is battery operated for camping trips. They gave us a set of scales that measure in kilos for pre and post weights.

We even got to choose the color of chair we wanted. 

Anyway, you might want to start finding out what supplies they will expect you to buy. We had to get a pillow and water-proof (really blood proof) cover, but they provide the daily covers for the pillow.

[Malibu]

Ima thinking I want to move to TN and go to your dialysis clinic Willow!!!  Wow, they provided a chair?!?! 
We purchased a used chair off Craigslist for $150.  Then a couple days later another home trainer who was training at the same time we were said that they contacted Medicare and Medicare said they would pay for a chair!  So when this one crashes (a spring is missing from the seat) we will see about getting Medicare to help with one.  The chairs run about $5,000 new (on Ebay)

[Zog]

Bill is right about getting a stockpile.  You don't want to be short on supplies when you miss a delivery, forget to make a batch or some penny pincher takes over ordering that month.  I just wish I could put some of this stuff in the garage.  We have a room that looks like a warehouse.  Make sure you get plenty of bagged dialysate even if you have a pureflow.  The pureflow picks the "best" times to alarm and or not make a batch.  That PAK expired one when you go to make a batch before you go to work is my FAVORITE.