When you have been prescribed oxygen therapy by a physician, you will most likely call or be referred to a medical equipment business for your oxygen needs.  Most of the medical equipment businesses, including the largest national ones, will automatically provide you with oxygen tanks.

However, you may have seen some of your more active friends walking around with oxygen concentrators and wondered why you didn’t get one. The short answer is that they are very expensive.  Unless your friend paid for it in cash, most medical equipment businesses will refuse to provide one under Medicare or an insurance program.  This is because the oxygen concentrators cost thousands of dollars and the insurance coverage will only provide very low monthly rental payments.

We at Apollo HomeCare believe that with the portable concentrators, you have many more options and much more freedom to travel for longer periods and further from home. As long as the concentrators have electrical or battery power, they will keep extracting oxygen from the air forever. This makes them a great option for extended travel, whether via car, plane, train or even boat.

 

Oxygen Tanks

  • Ultimately cumbersome based upon the finite amount of oxygen within them. You will need to keep 2-3 tanks on you at all times—particularly during long or extended trips. As oxygen tanks are limited by a finite capacity, this can produce an issue of portability for those who use them.
  • In order to easily travel and move about with an oxygen tank, many people prefer to fill a small portable oxygen tank to take with them when they are out. However, a small oxygen tank for breathing only holds a small amount of oxygen, which can be problematic, particularly if the unexpected arises.
  • Worrying about running out of oxygen, along with managing the replacement or refilling of tanks, can become a source of anxiety for patients getting their oxygen via oxygen tank.
  • All oxygen tanks deliver oxygen on continuous flow, which means you are using up your oxygen supply even when you are exhaling.
  • An oxygen tank could begin to leak, creating an oxygen-enriched atmosphere. Air saturated with oxygen increases the risk of a fire, so if a fire ignites under these circumstances, it is harder to extinguish because oxygen-induced fires burn hotter than many other kinds of fires.
  • Even lightweight portable oxygen tanks are generally both bulky and heavy.
  • For oxygen tanks, it may seem cheaper at first, but ongoing costs are incurred over time in the form of new oxygen tanks purchased as needed until oxygen is no longer needed.
  • The only positive for an oxygen tank is that they are relatively inexpensive for short term use.

 

Oxygen Concentrator

  • Oxygen concentrators filter and concentrate the surrounding air, generating medical-grade oxygen. Unlike an oxygen tank, an oxygen concentrator can provide an infinite supply of oxygen so long as there is access to power or the battery that powers the machine remains charged.
  • Portable oxygen concentrators, which are compact and lightweight, will not run out of oxygen like a small portable O2 tank, allowing patients to go about their daily activities while getting the oxygen therapy they need.
  • Many oxygen concentrators operate on pulse-dose delivery. That means that a pulse-dose oxygen concentrator only provides oxygen on the inhale, so no oxygen is wasted. It also means that there is a significantly lower risk of creating an oxygen-rich environment, which is a safety concern with many oxygen tanks.
  • Usually weighing less than five pounds, an oxygen concentrator is designed for convenience and a perfect choice for those who want portability.
  • While each oxygen concentrator is priced differently, it is important to remember that when buying oxygen concentrators, the price is largely upfront. This may make them costly for short term use.

 

Based upon the above statements, when the insurance program such as Medicare approves oxygen therapy prescribed by a physician, we don’t saddle you with the complications of a tank and a cart, but the newest technology of oxygen concentrators.  We are the only medical supply business in the area that cares enough to take this action.