As the leader in promoting excellence in sleep medicine health care, education and research, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) formed the Portable Monitoring Task Force as part of a comprehensive initiative to address the role of unattended portable monitoring (PM) in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
Using evidence review and a consensus process, the AASM task force developed clinical guidelines that were approved by the AASM board of directors and published in the December 15, 2007, issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. The guidelines recommend the use of PM by AASM-accredited sleep disorders centers and labs under the direction of a board-certified sleep specialist for the diagnosis of OSA in select adults.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is in the process of determining whether or not PM should be included as an alternative to facility-based polysomnography in its national coverage determination (NCD) regarding the diagnosis of patients with OSA who require continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy.
The AASM is making appropriate revisions to the AASM Standards for Accreditation and will continue to address practice issues related to the use of PM. The AASM also will create relevant and meaningful educational opportunities for members and the public to learn more about PM.
Select one of these links to learn more about the use of PM in the diagnosis of OSA:
AASM Resources
AASM Updates
CMS Updates