Trying a AccuCheck compact

Guy said:

I have used the Ultra for a longtime. However the strips
are an increasing problem for me.

The Ultra strips are one of the hardest to handle.

So Roche is sending me a "Compact" to try. since I use a
lot of strips someone gets about $2500 in my strip
business. Now tell me what is wrong with the Compact meter.

My backup is the Walmart meter but again I an having
trouble with getting the blood on them.

The power up switch for the Compact is troublesome.
Sometimes it powers the machine up on the first press.
Sometimes you have to press on it many times to power the
unit up. Roche has sent me three compacts to resolve the
problem. The same problem exists with each. Roche is aware
of the problem, but apparently is ignoring it.

I think the problem lies with the battery terminals. They do
not hold the batteries in place vey well. Very poor design.
Compare the battery terminals with your OTU and draw your
own conclusions.

But, it is nice not to mess with those darn sticks. The
compact consistently reads about 15 points than my accu chek
Advantage meter .

On Thu, 01 Apr 2004 04:30:36 -0600, Hi_Therre <[email hidden]> etched
permanently into the ether:

Quoted message said:

The power up switch for the Compact is troublesome.
Sometimes it powers the machine up on the first press.
Sometimes you have to press on it many times to power the
unit up. Roche has sent me three compacts to resolve the
problem. The same problem exists with each. Roche is aware
of the problem, but apparently is ignoring it.

Quoted message said:

I think the problem lies with the battery terminals. They
do not hold the batteries in place vey well. Very poor
design. Compare the battery terminals with your OTU and
draw your own conclusions.

I started with the Accu Chek compact. The battery issue
stumped me at first. But hubby placed a match book cover
between the cover and the batteries and I never had a power
up problem after that, except for operator error. <g>

Quoted message said:

But, it is nice not to mess with those darn sticks. The
compact consistently reads about 15 points than my accu
chek Advantage meter .

I also had lots of problems with the drums. The first one
was fine, but after that I kept getting error messages--it
would take 2 to 3 strips before I could get a reading.
According to Accu Chek I was probably moving the open strip
while trying to place a blood sample on it--they are tricky
to get your blood in the right place. That is one thing I
like MUCH better with the OTU, I'm now using. It's very easy
to get your blood in the proper place.

I tested both at the same time, using the same finger and
they were off by 1 point. I thought that was pretty amazing.
I replicated this a 2nd time, but I've put my Accu Chek
away, as back up. My insurance only covers the OTU.

I like the flip lid for the Accu Chek--it also seems to be
made more solidly than the OTU. The carrying case for the
Accu Chek had room for a sharps container, the OTU does not.
The reason the Accu Chek has more room, is I wasn't carrying
an extra drum of sticks, so I could slip a small sharps
container where the extra drum would go.

I know some of this is petty, but since you asked and I was
actually thinking about this today, I thought I'd include a
bit of minutia. 🙂

Nancy pre-diabetic (2/2004) just figuring it all out

to email me, remove the Z

On Thu, 01 Apr 2004 18:09:23 -0800, acoftil <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 01 Apr 2004 04:30:36 -0600, Hi_Therre
<[email hidden]> etched permanently into the ether:

Quoted message said:

The power up switch for the Compact is troublesome.
Sometimes it powers the machine up on the first press.
Sometimes you have to press on it many times to power the
unit up. Roche has sent me three compacts to resolve the
problem. The same problem exists with each. Roche is aware
of the problem, but apparently is ignoring it.

Quoted message said:

I think the problem lies with the battery terminals. They
do not hold the batteries in place vey well. Very poor
design. Compare the battery terminals with your OTU and
draw your own conclusions.

I started with the Accu Chek compact. The battery issue
stumped me at first. But hubby placed a match book cover
between the cover and the batteries and I never had a power
up problem after that, except for operator error. <g>

Quoted message said:

But, it is nice not to mess with those darn sticks. The
compact consistently reads about 15 points than my accu
chek Advantage meter .

I also had lots of problems with the drums. The first one
was fine, but after that I kept getting error messages--it
would take 2 to 3 strips before I could get a reading.
According to Accu Chek I was probably moving the open strip
while trying to place a blood sample on it--they are tricky
to get your blood in the right place. That is one thing I
like MUCH better with the OTU, I'm now using. It's very
easy to get your blood in the proper place.

I tested both at the same time, using the same finger and
they were off by 1 point. I thought that was pretty
amazing. I replicated this a 2nd time, but I've put my Accu
Chek away, as back up. My insurance only covers the OTU.

I like the flip lid for the Accu Chek--it also seems to be
made more solidly than the OTU. The carrying case for the
Accu Chek had room for a sharps container, the OTU does
not. The reason the Accu Chek has more room, is I wasn't
carrying an extra drum of sticks, so I could slip a small
sharps container where the extra drum would go.

I know some of this is petty, but since you asked and I was
actually thinking about this today, I thought I'd include a
bit of minutia. 🙂

Nancy pre-diabetic (2/2004) just figuring it all out

to email me, remove the Z

Thanks, Nancy, Your posting is what I wanted to hear. Should
be trying the meter in a day or so. The testing become a
pain when you get too old. Most other things do too. Guy

Guy said:

I have used the Ultra for a longtime. However the strips
are an increasing problem for me.

The Ultra strips are one of the hardest to handle.

So Roche is sending me a "Compact" to try. since I use a
lot of strips someone gets about $2500 in my strip
business. Now tell me what is wrong with the Compact meter.

My backup is the Walmart meter but again I an having
trouble with getting the blood on them.

Old age is not great fun. Guy

Of course you could have Medicare pay for them.

SM

---------------------------------
The True Axis of Evil
Bush - Cheney - Ashcroft - Rumsfeld
---------------------------------

I started a trial of the "compact" today. It is much simpler
than fighting the "ultra" strip battle. People are reporting
some problems so I have to see. Hope I can use it. I am very
disgusted with Medicare vendors. My experiences have been
bad. It seems the vendor do what they want and there are no
repercussions. I have five items for mobility and all are
paid for out of pocket. Always some glitch. I may be wrong
but Medicare seems to be a racket. I paid only a little more
than the co pay for one item. No extensive testing or
interviews or other red tape. Is Medicare for the benefit of
the patient or the vendor? I expect a similar situation on
the prescription law. It will only raise drug prices.

I do get some support from other sources on strips but my
bills add up to about 50% of my social security.

If the Accucheck is Ok I will use it. The Ultra family has a
strip problem and has made only one change in the container
cap in years. Last year I used about 2500 strips. Guy

Sleepyman said:

Guy said:

I have used the Ultra for a longtime. However the strips
are an increasing problem for me.

The Ultra strips are one of the hardest to handle.

So Roche is sending me a "Compact" to try. since I
use a lot of strips someone gets about $2500 in my
strip business. Now tell me what is wrong with the
Compact meter.

My backup is the Walmart meter but again I an having
trouble with getting the blood on them.

Old age is not great fun. Guy

Of course you could have Medicare pay for them.

SM

---------------------------------
The True Axis of Evil
Bush - Cheney - Ashcroft - Rumsfeld
---------------------------------

Guy said:

I started a trial of the "compact" today. It is much
simpler than fighting the "ultra" strip battle. People are
reporting some problems so I have to see. Hope I can use
it. I am very disgusted with Medicare vendors. My
experiences have been bad. It seems the vendor do what they
want and there are no repercussions. I have five items for
mobility and all are paid for out of pocket. Always some
glitch. I may be wrong but Medicare seems to be a racket. I
paid only a little more than the co pay for one item. No
extensive testing or interviews or other red tape. Is
Medicare for the benefit of the patient or the vendor? I
expect a similar situation on the prescription law. It will
only raise drug prices.

I do get some support from other sources on strips but my
bills add up to about 50% of my social security.

If the Accucheck is Ok I will use it. The Ultra family has
a strip problem and has made only one change in the
container cap in years. Last year I used about 2500
strips. Guy

Sleepyman said:

Guy said:

I have used the Ultra for a longtime. However the strips
are an increasing problem for me.

The Ultra strips are one of the hardest to handle.

So Roche is sending me a "Compact" to try. since I
use a lot of strips someone gets about $2500 in my
strip business. Now tell me what is wrong with the
Compact meter.

My backup is the Walmart meter but again I an having
trouble with getting the blood on them.

Old age is not great fun. Guy

Of course you could have Medicare pay for them.

SM

---------------------------------
The True Axis of Evil
Bush - Cheney - Ashcroft - Rumsfeld
---------------------------------

There is a difference with strips. You don't use a Durable
Equipment outfit. You use a pharmacy that is a Medicare
provider. Show script, show Medicare card, get strips. No
copay. Or you use a mail order outfit. You don't even need a
script. Phonecall to give info, they will call your doc and
get confirmation. Mail it to you. No copay. Get strips
mailed monthly. Couldn't be simpler. Saves you some dough
for when you hit old age.

Sleepy

---------------------------------
The True Axis of Evil
Bush - Cheney - Ashcroft - Rumsfeld
---------------------------------

I like my Compact Meter. I works really well. You only need
a small drop of blood and the sticks are really easy to use.
They come right out of the bottom of the meter. No holding
them in your hand. You might try mptotalcare.com. That's
where I get all of my supplies. You don't even have to pay
them until after they bill your insurance. They send my
supplies every 90 days like clockwork. I don't have to
reorder or anything.

--
"Sleepyman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Guy said:

I have used the Ultra for a longtime. However the strips
are an increasing problem for me.

The Ultra strips are one of the hardest to handle.

So Roche is sending me a "Compact" to try. since I
use a lot of strips someone gets about $2500 in my
strip business. Now tell me what is wrong with the
Compact meter.

My backup is the Walmart meter but again I an having
trouble with getting the blood on them.

Old age is not great fun. Guy

Of course you could have Medicare pay for them.

SM

---------------------------------
The True Axis of Evil
Bush - Cheney - Ashcroft - Rumsfeld
---------------------------------

Quoted message said:

I like my Compact Meter. I works really well. You only need
a small drop of blood and the sticks are really easy to
use. They come right out of the bottom of the meter. No
holding them in your hand. You might try mptotalcare.com.
That's where I get all of my supplies. You don't even have
to pay them until after they bill your insurance. They send
my supplies every 90 days like clockwork. I don't have to
reorder or anything.

It took me a few experiments to discover what size of blood
drop it liked. Once that had been settled I find it very
easy to use, seems accurate in that it consistently gets
exactly the mid-range response from the test solutions, and
highly repeatable in that making graphs with, say, 15 minute
samples, of glycemic response produces a very smooth graph.

I've had no problem with the batteries or on-switch other
folk mention.

I can't compare it with others, but I've been
pleasantly surprised by how good every aspect of its
operation has been.
--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
["]http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]