Aksys PHD

Heather writes:

How do you get patient info. like this considering privacy rights? I am researching costs of PHD, and other than one person on this board, Guillaume, have not gotten any other reponses.

How did you get this info from PHD users?

The patients tell me themselves. I am just trying to make sure patients get the best TX and do not get fed any lies about the home dialysis machine they choose. If you are concerned about your utilities keep in mind that NxStage does not have to be on 24hrs a day and does not need a gallons and gallons of water a day. So that will save you a lot every month.

So you’re not a patient? or are you a patient who use to post on this board under a different name? Seems to me you’ve not given substantiated information, it’s hard to credit your anonymous info against info provided by signed posters. Why are you so cryptic about yourself and your motives – what’s your beef?

[quote=“Anonymous”]

So you’re not a patient? or are you a patient who use to post on this board under a different name? Seems to me you’ve not given substantiated information, it’s hard to credit your anonymous info against info provided by signed posters. Why are you so cryptic about yourself and your motives – what’s your beef?[/quote]

For legal reasons I have to be vague with my answers. I am not a patient. I have worked with both the PHD and the NxStage machines and the patients. I have no motives nor do I have a beef. I am just trying to answer questions for those who ask. I know a lot about both of theses machines and just want to share my knowledge. You do not have to believe it. I work for neither Aksys nor NxStage so my opinions and facts are biased. You have the choice to trust what you here from actual users or myself. The choice is yours.

Tucker writes:

The patients tell me themselves. I am just trying to make sure patients get the best TX and do not get fed any lies about the home dialysis machine they choose. If you are concerned about your utilities keep in mind that NxStage does not have to be on 24hrs a day and does not need a gallons and gallons of water a day. So that will save you a lot every month.

You are not saying how you have the opportunity to speak to patients who use Aksys. The question is, what is the true cost of utilites with Aksys PHD, not whether the cost of utlilities is less than NxStage. There is a big difference between an average of $35 a month and $100 or more per month. Bill, and other Aksys users, if you are reading this, would appreciate if you would clarify monthly utility costs.

I have only said “I heard” from patients of the PHD that there bills have gone up to $100 more a month I can’t give you actual proof. So try to poll the actual users or call Aksys and maybe they can help you. But if your trying to compair cost keep this in mind. PHD is on 24hrs a day and uses a lot of water to clean the machine and just for dialysis(at least 50-70 liters). The NxStage uses pre-packed dialysate and only needs to be on when you use it for 1.5-3 hrs logic says PHD will cost more.

I’m really confused by this thread, I don’t know who all these ‘players’ are or what their mysterious roles may be.
Let me tell you that I am a dialysis home patient, have been on several machines in the last 25 years. Aksys Phd since 12/01/03.
I don’t mind what anybody wants to use. That’s great. But I like what I got wish it was small like the NextStage and light and I could travel with it and it was only on 2-4 hrs. a day…everything else I like about the PHD.

Now, believe me if you will, but I could NOT afford even an extra $100 a month for electric and water…my whole electric bill is barely over $100!!
My wife would go bananas if it doubled our electric…I’d be using a B-Braun instead. ALso the Aksys does not run 24 hrs a day it is hooked up 24 hrs a day … and sleeps and rinses and heats and makes diaylsis. Your refrigerator runs 24 hrs a day that doesn’t mean it costs $200- 300 dollars a month! I would be on the phone to medicare and yellin holy heck if I had the bills you ‘guests’ are talking about" … And the water, well you guys need to get the facts …it’s very easy…ask AKsys for usage figures then multiply times your local utility rates and you’ve got the numbers…
Somebodies are stretching credibility.

I’m kinda tired of the machine wars BTW, as I said I like what I got and when something better comes along or if my needs change I’ll get something else. Everybody get what works for you(or what your center lets you have, is more like it}
Best of Luck to the people really trying to decide for themselves
Ciao
Guillaume

Hi y’all,

Guillaume wrote:

I’m really confused by this thread, I don’t know who all these ‘players’ are or what their mysterious roles may be.

I have to agree–we allow guests to post because we realize that not everyone is comfortable with the Internet, and we don’t want to discourage people from getting the help they need.

That said, we can’t allow these boards to be used for anonymous attacks with no actual data. “Tucker,” “Guest,” whoever…please do keep in mind that we can delete posts for any reason, and I will choose to exercise that right if I see this type of post again. It’s not helpful to people. Sharing your own experience is one thing. Sharing the experiences of supposed “other patients” is something else entirely.

Dori, disable guest posting…

Only the truthful, trustworthy people may apply…

Will keep the boards clean and beautiful… :slight_smile:

Hi y’all,

Gus wrote:

Dori, disable guest posting. Only the truthful, trustworthy people may apply…

We’re not ready to that quite yet, but we may get there…

Hi Heather,
I get my water bill bi-monthly and the difference between the B Braun and the Aksys was negligible. My memory of the increase when I first stared home dialysis was that the bill went up about $50 for two months. The one thing I have not seen mentioned is that many water districts offer subsidies for people on home hemo. I am sure this varies but it is something to look into.

I hope you don’t get there… Freedom of speech is a valuable asset for all. I think pointing to people with an agenda and ‘outing’ them is much more favorable than to ban them, because of the difficulty in drawing the line…hey! I could be next!.. I hear you guys chuckling !

Guillaume

Bill writes:

I get my water bill bi-monthly and the difference between the B Braun and the Aksys was negligible. My memory of the increase when I first stared home dialysis was that the bill went up about $50 for two months.

Hi Bill,
Would just like to clarify monthly costs for Aksys PHD. Need to know approx. monthy cost for water and elec. combined. Would you say we are talking an average of $35 per month, $50, $100 or more?

I have a suggestion for people living in different regions of the country… In New Jersey they have programs to assist patients with financial difficulty the ability to have home repairs etc. In our case it was a subsidiary of Habitat for Humanity.

The timing at which these patients apply for these programs is crucial as so the agency can budget for the cost of repairs AND plumbing expenses. In my case, the funding is requested in the fall but the agency has been asking for extra funds for me.

The trick is… in order to qualify for most of these programs the patient must also ask for some other modification to be done to the home… rails in bathrooms, ramps, etc. They ARE willing to help with the costs to install the necessary plumbing.

In our unit we do not absorb the cost of plumbing installation. We have found that by tapping into community resources this can be achieved… hope this helps someone out there.

There is no way to say how much a machine will cost as water and electricity cost different amounts in different parts of the country. Here in CA, I use an additional 300 gallons of water a day, the cost is negligible during the winter as I use well below the minimum water amounts, but in the summer the costs are actually quite high as I have a large yard and a pool so my water usage goes to the fourth tier with each tier having a higher per unit cost. The water company will not make any allowances for the use of life saving machines. For the summer my bill was probably $30-$40 more per month, maybe $10 more per month in the winter months.

Likewise my electricity bill increases more in the summer than the winter as I already use more electricity to run airconditioning and the pool filters (you need to run more when the pool is warm). I am sure some of the increase is due to rising costs but my electric bill is at least $50 more per month than last year, sometimes even more. This is with an adjustment for life saving equipment.

I doubt anywhere in the US the cost would go up more than $200 a month (although my machine runs for only about 6 hours a day), but my bills have definitely gone up at least $100 per month. This is readily offset by my decrease in medical insurance costs of over $200 a month when I could switch to a medicare policy.

Cathy
self home hemo 9/04
PKD

My experience so far is similar to Cathy’s (it’s only been a couple of months - with higher rates because it has been in the summer at that). The increases that I have seen in my utility bills since using the Aksys PHD in my home have been in the $20- $30 range for electricity and water combined.

The only real way to get a solid answer is to find out from Aksys exactly how much electricty and water the PHD uses and then use those numbers to calculate the cost based on whatever your local rates are.

Don’t forget, that even though the PHD is directly connected to your water and electricity 24/7, that doesn’t mean it is using water and electricity 24/7. I like the idea someone said earlier to think of it in the same way you think about your refridgerator. It is connected to your electic and water 24/7 just like the PHD, yet you don’t see an alarming surge in your utility costs because of it.

The installation costs are another matter all together.

I was the first patient in the Houston area to get a PHD, so my clinic did not have any real numbers to go by. So, they simply called around and got quotes from different companies on the electrical and plumbing installation costs. They told me that the entire cost of installation would be somewhere around $1,500.

I wound up spending almost twice that much after everything was said and done. I had a hard time even finding a plumber that would even touch the project. Most of them backed out of being considered as soon as they found out that the plumbing was for a piece of medical equipment. These plumbers did not want to be held liable if anything went wrong with their installation causing my machine to malfunction.

One chunk of the final cost that my clinic did not account for in their initial estimate they gave me, was the cost of having the wall patched and painted that was broken into in order to install the plumbing. That was $600 itself (the plumber had to tear up a rather sizable area to get to my pipes).

My clinic did not cover any of my plumbing/electrical costs for installing the PHD. Medicare didn’t either. There is, however, a small amount of financial assistance available from the American Kidney Fun. They will give you up to $500 towards the costs of your plumbing/electrical installation. You have to apply, giving them fairly detailed information about your financial resources and expenses. There is no income limit, which is nice, because just because someone has a decent income doesn’t always mean they have $2,000+ to pay for the installation of a home hemo machine.

Yep. I did it again. I just re-read this thread and saw that I was not signed in when I posted this last post. Sorry all.

Eston

  • Why is this even happenning? I have the website set to automatically log me in, but based on the fact that I am unknowingly sending out “guest” posts I can tell that it isn’t always logging me in. Anyone know how I can correct this?