I am upgrading to the OmniPod Dash and finally got the insurance pre-authorization for the pharmacy benefit sorted (and what a hassle that was). But the Dash PDM is not covered by my insurance (though the Omnipod 5 PDM/intro kit is—go figure). After a zillion phone calls yesterday, I finally learned that Insulet’s support contractor (ASPN) provides the Dash PDM. I don’t know how many times I talked to an ASPN rep trying to get the pre-authorization through and NO ONE ever told me about this!!! Anyway, for those interested in the Dash, you get the PDM from ASPN. Many thanks to the Insulet rep for letting me know!
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Hi @CatLady,
BTW, their contractor is not too sharp. Apparently that’s why I ended up with so many of them!
If you need one, I have 4 or 5 of them. I can send you one.
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In hindsight, I just oughta have called Insulet instead of the insurers! Silly me! 
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They had to do that to get it covered at all; Insulet made the whole thing a prescription benefit, so they had to give away the PDM for free (that’s “free” as in “free shipping”, not “free beer”). Last time I looked at the actual cost of the PDM it retails (minus the software, which is, of course, “free”) at $25. So I guess Insulet were probably paying $6/unit (it’s been discontinued.)
For other people going down this squirrely route the PDM is not required; everything can be done from a 'phone, well, at least an Android 'phone. I don’t recall if Insulet support it on the i.
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No iPhone support yet…
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@CatLady Glad you got it sorted out! Hope using the Dash eases the effort you have to put forward! You’re correct, no Insulet provided software for iPhone will “run” the Dash pump, only follow the status of the Insulet PDM actions. However, both Loop and iAPS have the ability to “run” the Dash pump with info from a CGM (G6, G7, Libre, etc), though you have to DIY build both programs (help is available). The good news is both can be DIY built without use of Apple’s Xcode or Mac computers; both programs can be built using a browser on just about any computer, pad, or phone (including the iPhone). The first time is a bit daunting and takes an hour or so of reading/following the directions; after that, re-building (every 3 months) takes a few clicks and waiting about 30 minutes for it to be built automatically using a GitHub account, a link to the new program being sent to you via email, and installation by TestFlight on your phone. You do need to have an Apple Developer account ($99/year). The benefit: you don’t need to carry or use the PDM, only your phone. All that said, if using the PDM works for you, go for it; if using Loop or iAPS works for you, go for one of them. Having the choice is a good thing…
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I do plan to give Loop a try, which is why I wanted the Dash and not the O5. I think this choice also contributed to some of the difficulty getting the preauthorization approved.
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I was mistaken I think; there’s no Android support either. I believe I was confounding the Insulet O5 support (only on Android) and the Dexcom G6/G7 support (the Dexcom “receiver”, the PDM, is not required). I’ve been using just one (Android) device for both the Dash and the G6, now G7; that works but not with Insulet software and, because I use AndroidAPS (not Insulet) to control the Dash I don’t use the Dexcom software either.
I’ve been doing it for so long now that I’d forgotten the misbegot world where I had to carry two cellphones just to stay alive…
Here’s a possibly more reliable source of information from Shreddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Omnipod/comments/y2yvkv/omnipod_dash_and_android/
@CatLady One word of caution: the Insulet tech support folks are reported to not want to support issues with pods if you tell them you’re using Loop or some DIY or solution not involving “their” devices like the PDM or their apps for monitoring a pod. I’ve experienced this one time, but because of the experience it’s recommended to be wary of what you say. In my case, it consisted of telling the person I used Loop, which had nothing to do at all with the pods problem, but the conversation immediately changed to one of non-support to the point the person wouldn’t even discuss the issue. Seems kind of disingenuous as Insulet knows people use Dash and Eros (Eros for another few months) and they were a proud supporter of Tidepool Loop (now FDA approved), but refused to support Tidepool Loop when it got FDA approval. Anyway, you’ll have to determine for yourself how to address if/when you have a problem with a Dash pod and need to call Insulet. Like I said before, I’ve only had two incidents in two years of a failed pod (both “screamers”) and one that the adhesive failed on (pool and sea water on a cruise). My first “screamer” was one of my first pods, I didn’t know what to do with it, so I literally used a hammer in my garage to shut it up, then I learned about the “secret” hole on the back you can poke a paper clip sized stiff object into to break off part of the circuit board to stop the noise. The second was this part week, just stopped all communication and gave a comms error (you may want to get a list of pod error codes for interpretation; I think there’s a list here on FUD, but there are several around, just differentiate the O5 from Dash from Eros).
If/when you decide to try Loop, ensure you join/monitor the LoopZulipChat group and subscribe to a couple of the groups there. They discuss changes needed/desired to the dev version, any problems noted with either dev or main versions, announce releases of the main version.
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I may have mentioned this before - in my Loop app, I put my PDM serial number.
Because they always ask for it. So I open up the Loop app and have the PDM serial number ready to give them.
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Is this via a code customization? I’m unaware of this as a built-in capability.
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@bkh
This was my own doing. 
I changed the “LOOP_MARKETING_VERSION” to be my PDM serial number. So now my PDM serial number is shown at the top of the settings page.
I don’t know what string you would change in your version. I did this in FreeAPS. It might be the same place, I am not sure.
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Sounds like a great idea, where/how do I find them?
Thank you!
If they’re part of fudiabetes, how do I search for other groups? & it might be nice to see what other groups exist :). Thank you!
CRB
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You’ll need to establish an account, but it’s free. Go to: https://loop.zulipchat.com/, you may have to go to just zulipchat.com first to establish the account. Note that it’s https, vice just http.
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Thank you!
CR