Any recommendations for a POC (personal oxygen converter)

September 29, 2021 3:38 PM

My mom is just out of the hospital and needs to be hooked up to tanks of oxygen at home. She needs one of those small handbag-size devices (a POC) that she can move around with more easily -- to go to the store, etc.

But given COVID and backlogs related to China, it's almost impossible finding one of these devices. We've tried going through her insurance (Medicare and Kaiser) and it feels like a huge runaround. Delay after delay.

Does anyone in the hive have any advice or suggestions?

What about purchasing a new one? Or would a refurbished one be OK? But where to locate and trust the seller? Google searches bring up tons of sketchy-looking shit.

posted by zenpop to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

My husband has had one of these Inogen models for a few years. It's reliable & works great. We also have the at home model from them. We bought both directly from them with our FSA. The at home one we just got a few weeks ago & there was no delay. For awhile we were renting the at home one but that turned into a giant hassle with the insurance company so I recommend just owning it outright if you can.
posted by bleep at 3:49 PM on September 29, 2021

Response by poster: Hi Bleep

Thanks!

What’s FSA?
posted by zenpop at 4:28 PM on September 29, 2021

FSA = Flexible Savings Account. Bleep used their (medical) FSA to fund the purchase rather than going through insurance. This is a pre-tax medical savings account that some employers set up for their employees.
posted by hydra77 at 4:37 PM on September 29, 2021

What’s her literflow, as well as her long-term prognosis for O2 needs? Inogen would be my recommendation for a POC, but depending on her needs bottled O2 with an oxygen conserving device (OCD) might be a better fit. If she has a respiratory therapist, they should be able to give you a good rundown of the options.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 6:33 PM on September 29, 2021 [2 favorites]

I thought it's called a "concentrator"? The Inogen G4 is barely larger than a hardback book. But it is quite expensive.
posted by kschang at 2:33 AM on September 30, 2021