Overnight Continuous Feeding

Some people use a pump for overnight feeding.  Overnight feeding with small meals during the day is a way to deliver enough calories to keep healthy while not being tied to a pump during the day. By doing this, the tube fed person receives a slow continuous flow nutrition all night long controlled by a pump to promote tolerance and and lower the risk of aspiration.  The meals during the day are smaller and supplement the overnight feeding.  Usually a syringe is used to delivered them, typically at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Accessorizing Your Pump with the bFed System

A Bolink Large Cap and a Bolee Bag or a Bolink Small Cap and a pureed food pouch are the perfect "accessories" for this tube feeding routine. Using the bFed System instead of a syringe during the day makes mealtime less stressful.  There's no more messy syringe to use and it is as clean as pump delivery.  Just fill the Bolee Bag with the right amount of nutrition, connect the Bolink Large Cap to the Bolee Bag and feeding tube and let gravity take over.  If a smaller meal or snack is all that you need, connect the Bolink Small Cap to a pureed food pouch and a feeding tube, squeeze the pouch to deliver nutrition through your feeding tube.

Insurance, Tubing Supplies and Home Care Companies (DMEs)

Feeding Pumps require extra clinical documentation to justify their use and to receive insurance coverage under code B9002. And, there is a specific insurance code, B4035, for the monthly supply kit for the tubing and other items necessary for pump feeding. Likewise, the monthly supplies for syringe and gravity delivery have specific kit codes B4034 (syringe) and B4036 (gravity) defined for insurance coverage.  Unfortunately, only one tube feeding supply code can applied at a time for insurance coverage for each patient by a homecare company.  You can't receive coverage for pump and bolus or gravity feeding.  The reimbursement tied to the codes do allow for additional supplies, but home care companies structure their supply kits around the supplies only needed for the particular delivery mode described by the code. There's no "combo" code which allows them to charge for a mix of delivery methods. 

Practically speaking, that means if you're overnight pump feeding but syringe feeding during the day, the syringe supplied for flushing or medication delivery in a pump kit has to serve double duty.  This is far from an ideal situation.  The flushing/medication syringe as a result is going to used a lot and wear out rapidly.  With each use, especially when delivering nutrition, it gets harder and harder to push the plunger.  The inexpensive syringes provided by most homecare companies are designed for single use.  And, it is not a great idea to mix medication delivery with food delivery.

What to Do to Get the bFed System

If you are using a pump and have insurance coverage, but want to use the bFed System for supplemental nutrition, you can try asking your DME to include 2 Bolee Bags and 2 Bolink Large Caps or 4 Bolink Small Caps in your monthly pump supply kit.  That's likely to be a frustrating conversation without a positive outcome. 

Alternatively, you can avoid struggling with your DME and buy bFed System products from our online store or the bFed System store on Amazon (click on the buttons below to learn more).  Remember bFed System products are reimbursable as durable medical equipment so you may be able to use FSA or HSA credit cards to pay for them. 

Whatever you decide to do, having the bFed System on hand will provide you with another option in addition to you pump to eat what you want, where you want. Experience the freedom today!