SJM Merlin@home monitor

I am another one of those without a landline phone (using OOMA VOIP and cell phone). Having been in marketing for forty plus years, I am smart enough to know predatory price gouging when I see it, and St. Jude's options for patient monitoring without a hard wired phone line are simply outrageous. SInce insurance won't cover that, they are preying on those least able their outrageous pricingt. I have taken delivery pf the EX1150 home monitor and now know it won't work on OOMA.

I am certain that there is a way to avoid the ripoff of paying $450 for a wireless USB adapter that costs $35-$50 at Walmart or anywhere else (I already have a high speed wireless router). I am pretty certain that any standard USB 2.0 wireless adapter plugged into it will work, but I would like to know (before I start experimenting) if anyone has had success with this and if so which USB adapter will work.

I refuse to patronize AT&T for a single purpose landline after being hosed by them in the past. I will not sign a three year contract to get cellular connectivity (that's why I no longer have Comcast and am about to bail out from Sprint on cellular service and go with Boost - no contract).

Has anyone on this forum have any real success with a workaround, and if so will you share it? I will get it to work one way or the other, or I won't be monitored remotely. I do find it odd that my insurance company will pay for an expensive device, but not for the simple adapter to make it work for me.

16 Comments

I agree

by Theknotguy - 2015-02-24 07:02:26

I agree with your comments and ran into the same problems. Fortunately I'm in an area where my EP is only 15 minutes away and a heart hospital is 5 minutes away. So I don't have the need for the remote monitoring. I don't have any solutions for you either. And I agree, $450 for a $30 cable which is probably made for about $1 is way overboard.

You can talk with your medical insurance people. See if they have any suggestions. I'd bring up the point of the $450 and see if it gets any interest. Maybe not, but you can give it a try.

After that it would be searching the Internet and see if any information. Next question would be if you can find anything on YouTube. There are guys doing hacks on almost everything. Maybe someone would be willing to give your problem a go. Maybe instead of hacking to break things they can hack to fix things.

Good luck! If I find out anything I'll post it on the forum.

cell service

by revelation - 2015-02-24 08:02:23

I have landline phone service. I also have a Boston Scientific device. I pay $64.00 a month for my phone service because I live 100 miles from my doctor. So, I have to have this particular phone plan on landline to be able to call my doctor. I can get home cell phone service for $20.00 a month, but I have to have the landline service for my device. I've been talking to Boston Scientific about a device to use with a cell phone tower. They gave me a number to a place in California that sells a device to connect to my monitor to use with home cell service. It costs $13.95 a month. This would save me about $30.00 a month. The only problem with this is, the only cell service that it works with is ATT towers. I don't have a ATT cell tower close enough to me for this to work. I have a verizon tower a half mile from my house. I've suggested that they make a device to work with any cell service. It should would help me if they would.

Florida

by norskie - 2015-02-24 09:02:08

When I lived in Wisconsin, I had the VA landline telephone monitoring. Now I live in Florida and the VA here does not have it, so I have gone over 2 years with only the 6-month monitoring in the clinic. Seems to go ok.

Talk to your doctor

by SaraTB - 2015-02-24 09:02:23

Firstly, bear in mind that I don't know what particular condition you have that necessitated the PM. In my case, I have heart block, which is pretty straightforward. Once I realised that this kind of monitoring is not generally done outside the US, unless patients have complex conditions that truly require frequent checks, I talked to my EP.

In my case, I was doing telephone checks, not the Merlin type monitoring. I told my EP that it was the only reason we still had the landline (which was already a VoIP setup) and I wanted him to explain exactly why quarterly checkups were so vital, especially as I was also coming into his office every 6 months. He agreed it was not essential for my condition, and we compromised on no telephone check and three office visits a year - which seem to have dropped back to two again, based on when they made my last appointment.

So, it really is worth discussing it: in my case, my EP admitted it was a "nice but not necessary" thing. And I find it interesting that it isn't considered as necessary for every PM patient in other countries either . . .

Hello

by mytrose43 - 2015-02-24 09:02:48

Hi i have merlin at home monitor and i also have comcast phone it is not a land line it is plugged into a modem and i called tech support at st jude's and they said it is working fine with no special hook ups

Me too

by Busdriver - 2015-02-24 11:02:51

I have the SJM@Home monitor. We already had a landline due to it being part of a "bundle" with Cox Communications. Not sure yet but I plan on asking if my CPA can find a tax break in there somewhere now that I must have the landline due to a medical condition. We also looked into having it connected by cell phone also, but it was just too much of a hassle and my wife called the people at SJM. They walked her thru the process and it was going to be way too expensive and require additional monthly charges, which is why we just connected it to an existing landline phone.

*PERK*

by Janenotarzan - 2015-02-25 02:02:11

Grateful for this post & will watch for updates, since I, too, live in the boondocks & work in the "Remotest of Remote" boondocks--where there are few non-digital landlines, just temperamental cell service. Had to pay for an old-fashioned, non-digital landline @ home for an extended-wear holter monitor 2 yrs. ago, then cancelled service after 3 mo. when the results were sufficient. I live 2 1/2 hrs from my EP & 1hr from a regular Cardiologist. Received a wireless monitoring system for my PM 3 days ago, but still waiting to hear if my insurance will pay for it; if not, I must agree to pay outrageous costs for the wireless system, or else re-instate my landline, pay for it myself & have medtronic send me the land-line system (after I re-package the wireless system & pay shipping&insurance to return it.) Frustrating? Yes, but I'm still grateful for.all the.options so readily available today.
I live & work in remote areas, because my employer provides amazing medical benefits that have kept me going for years. Sometimes I gripe. Sometimes I complain. Mostly, though, I feel gratitude for what I CAN or DO have and shame for grousing that it doesn't come easier, cheaper, or quicker. Just my 2 cents worth. ~Jane

I Don't Agree

by NiceNiecey - 2015-02-25 04:02:01

Sorry Ian and CrabbyPatch but I think remote monitoring is a great benefit. I have the "plug it in once in a while" type to send a scheduled transmission or I use it if I'm having a problem and want feedback. It has saved me from driving in to the doc's office because someone always calls and tells me if there's anything I need to worry about (or be seen for). I do get charged (I think) something like $50 but it's peace of mind. Some of my transmissions were nothing. Others actually indicated a problem.

The "hook it up every night" type is also very important. One of my friends took a family vacation a couple hours north in the woods. She did not bring her monitor. The whole vacation she was on the sofa with what she figured was allergies, of all things. She just didn't feel well (she's in her 40s). When she got home and plugged in her monitor that night, her doc saw the readings and she was immediately hospitalized for the next 3 or 4 days.

And even with Complete Heart Block, I keep developing new problems with my heart. The hassle really sucks but I'm glad I have the silly monitor. I hope you find a good answer to the landline dilemma!

Do you really need it ?????

by IAN MC - 2015-02-25 05:02:31

You have been in marketing for forty plus years so you must realise that marketeers often create an imaginary need for a product or service .

If they have a potential customer base which is uninformed and slightly anxious it becomes a marketing man's dream !

Then, once they have persuaded consumers that they have a need which they didn't know they had ;then they can become really creative with the pricing !

Unless you live in the remotest boondocks known to man , as Jane does, then why exactly do you need remote monitoring ?

It seems to be only the US that has fallen for the whole idea of remote monitoring on such a grand scale ( but you did all buy a lot of snake oil ! )

Ian

They are improving....

by Lurch - 2015-02-25 07:02:09

Got my Biotronik installed in May of 2014. Had my first incident January 28th. Stood up from kitchen table, felt extremely light headed and weird (that's a specialized medical term for the way I felt), leaned against the frig for about 20 seconds, then went on about my day. This occurred at 1:11:43 PM.

I know the exact time because about two hours later i received a call from my ICD Tech in my Cardiologist's office. She had received a text message from Biotronik's office that told her I had experienced V-Tach and was paced out of it.

My home monitoring system reports in nightly, and apparently, unknown to me or the Tech, reports an "unusual" activities or activations.

I contacted Biotronik to ask if their system could be routed through my cell phone so I could eliminate my land line system. They informed me that it is already cellular and can reach them as long as there is a T-Mobile signal!

So, apparently the manufacturers are making improvements to the systems and keeping track of us all the time!!!

Different Experience

by PJinSC - 2015-02-26 02:02:29

Not sure why you are being told you need a special hookup for remote monitoring. I have a Boston Scientific CRT-P+ device, and a Boston Scientific Latitude monitor.
We had already converted our land line from BellSouth to our internet provider VOIP, so I asked if it was compatible, everyone said it was and here we are, hooked up to our internet phone connection and not costing anything additional. The monitor is located with the phone modem in the living room, because I do not have a connection in the bedroom, but what I do every morning is sit within 10 feet of the monitor and drink my morning coffee, and it senses me nearby and downloads and transmits to my device lab. My device nurse tells me it is working well, and they even called me one time to say that it was not transmitting, so I reset the monitor and it started working. Boston Scientific and Verizon have a plan for about $10-$13 monthly if I want to have a cell phone monitoring setup and move it to the bedroom, but as long as it is not costing me extra, I will keep the current monitoring setup.

St Judes Merlin Home Monitor

by jhweigel - 2015-02-26 08:02:07

PJ in SC:

The reason you had no problem connecting your home monitor is becasue yours is made by Boston scientific. The reason I can't is that mine is made by St. Judes.

I am still working on a way to do this. I personally feel that the remote monitoring for me is worthwhile given my past medical experiences. I will continue to research a way to get it connected without paying their usurious fees.

Thanks to everyone for your opinions

You pays your money & makes....

by donr - 2015-02-26 12:02:31

....your choice.

I was offered a monitor by my PM hospital - Emory in Atlanta, Georgia at my last visit. I told them exactly where they could shove that device. Actually, what I told them was that f one arrived at my house I would throw it on the floor & smash it with a hammer & deliver the carcass to them.

I live 18 miles from my cardio's office & a hosp that can take care of me in an emergency. It is over 50 Miles to Emory's PM center in downtown Atlanta.

I chose to live out in the boondocks, so I have to pay whatever the price is for that solution. Our situation as far as medical emergency support is concerned is that it will take an ambulance as long to get here as it takes my Wife to drive to the hosp!

We have a land line; there is nearly zero cell service here. Nice thing about our LL is that every inch of wire is buried - from the box on the wall of our house to the closest TelCo switching center. That means nearly absolute security & reliability of LL service.

Call us dinosaurs if you want - but wee are not ready for the remote monitoring yet.

We have made that choice - that's what everyone else who has commented has done. There are always costs associated w/ a choice. We don't like the costs - we can move. It's that simple.

Donr



Understand now

by PJinSC - 2015-02-27 09:02:11

Now I see your situation. Was not aware there were differences. Guess I was fortunate. Good Luck.

Update on wireless network and Merlin

by jhweigel - 2015-03-20 09:03:28

After trying to get an off the shelf wireless USB adapter to work without having to pay their ridiculous $450 for a router that I don't need and a $15 wireless USB adapter, I bit the bullet and called AT&T.

They set me up with a simple dialtone single line for $20 per month plus tax, total about $29 per month. I know about the cellular adapter option. I called them and they wanted $16 a month with a three year contract. Having had past bad experiences with my Sprint contract, and bad experiences also with Comcast cable, I don't sign contracts for stuff like that so I called AT&T. They were very nice - tell them you want a "medical device rate". You can still us it for phone calls. but I won't hook a handset to it because I would start getting 10 mmarketing calls a day which are very annoying.

Works OK with Vonage fax

by tomt - 2015-09-30 10:09:04

My wife just had a pacemaker implanted, and my first comment is how I was astonished that in the 21st century, a monitor's main communications was analog via POTS!

Anyhow, I won't comment my disgust on the technical (or lack thereof) communications aspects or even the additional profit center for add-on services, but just to let everyone know that it works just fine with a Vonage dedicated fax line (i.e. FoIP - T.38 protocol). Vonage charges $10 a month for a fax line, which I already have had for years. Use a line splitter, and connected one line from the ATA box (Vonage supplied free) into the house analog phone connector in the wall (which I had never used) in my office, and connected the Merlin monitor into the phone line connector in the bedroom. It worked straight away, and was able to monitor the connections online through my Vonage account (which have had for the past decade).
Just a note to non-techies, is that it most likely will not work (on a consistent basis) with any old VoIP service, but any FoIP (Fax over IP) service should be fine.
Open to questions about the Vonage connectivity.

You know you're wired when...

You have rhythm.

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Since I got my pacemaker, I don't pass out anymore! That's a blessing in itself.