American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Hypnogram: Sleep study coverage policies

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In recent months, I’ve received numerous comments from members regarding changes to their regional insurance coverage policies, which typically have involved new preauthorization requirements and utilization management review. While similar billing and reimbursement procedures have been common in other medical specialties for many years, their implementation for sleep study coverage has been a dramatic change for sleep physicians

Hypnogram: Election Results

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

After becoming a student member in 1994, my level of involvement in the AASM steadily increased as I volunteered on committees, served on the Board of Directors, and was elected as president. This experience has greatly contributed to my personal and professional growth, giving me the pleasure of working closely with likeminded colleagues to help advance the field of sleep medicine.

Hypnogram: OCST supply and demand

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In recent months many of us have been learning new economic lessons about supply and demand. Insurers in some regions of the country have dramatically increased the demand for out of center sleep testing (OCST). As a result, sleep centers are faced with the challenge of supplying OCST services to meet this demand.

Hypnogram: National contractors for OCST

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Last month I joined 300 colleagues in attendance at the AASM’s sold-out winter course in Phoenix on “Emerging Clinical and Business Trends in Sleep Medicine.” The challenge issued to all attendees was that sleep centers must make plans immediately to integrate OCST as health care policy makers continue to focus on cost containment and efficiency. The way this is done will vary depending on your sleep center’s business model. Some sleep center directors will determine that the best option for their center is to outsource specific OCST services to a national contractor. These sleep centers will benefit from the AASM’s new program to recognize national contractors offering OCST services that meet AASM accreditation standards.

Hypnogram: Let’s move sleep into the childhood obesity discussion

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Obesity intervention programs must take a comprehensive approach to address the complex risk factors that contribute to weight gain in children, and this approach should include an emphasis on healthy sleep. That is what I communicated this week in a letter from the AASM to First Lady Michelle Obama, who launched the Let’s Move initiative in 2010 to improve physical activity and nutrition among children.

Hypnogram: Revised OCST Accreditation Standards, Approved OCST Suppliers

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

I want to provide you with important updates about a few AASM initiatives related to out of center sleep testing (OCST) that will empower sleep centers to successfully navigate the changing landscape of sleep medicine. First, the AASM has completed a comprehensive revision of the Standards for Accreditation of Out of Center Sleep Testing (OCST) in Adult Patients. The revisions strengthen the standards in areas such as HIPAA compliance, personnel, equipment maintenance, data reporting and quality assurance. These changes ensure that patients will continue to receive the highest quality of care from OCST suppliers.

Hypnogram: New PR initiative

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

“The American Academy of Sleep Medicine considers sleep disorders an illness that has reached epidemic proportions.” “AASM encourages patients to talk to their doctors about sleep problems or visit www.sleepeducation.com for a searchable directory of sleep centers.” You’ll soon be seeing that message on news releases and other communications coming out of AASM. It’s part of the AASM PR initiative to raise public awareness of sleep disorders, which I discussed here recently. These carefully chosen words are designed to sound an alarm and get people the help they need.

Hypnogram: Thanksgiving

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Thanksgiving Day is an opportunity for us to spend time with family and friends and reflect on what is most important in our lives. As Cynthia Ozick writes, “We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” As president of the AASM, I want you to know that I am extremely grateful for your loyal support of the sleep medicine field.

Hypnogram: Board of Directors

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0500

The coming weekend, the Board of Directors will meet in Chicago to discuss a broad range of issues that currently affect our Academy and have future implications for sleep medicine. Over the coming weeks, I will share news and announcements from the meeting with you and also provide updates on continuing initiatives led by the Board of Directors.

Hypnogram: Changes for 2013

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Four months into my tenure as President of the AASM, I am continually encouraged by the support shown by my 9,500 colleagues who are members of the Academy. Our Academy’s strength is derived from all of you who volunteer on committees, task forces and other initiatives to advance our mission; utilize programs and services to foster your professional growth; and invest in the ASMF and PAC to promote issues critical to our field. I appreciate your continued support and thank you for being a member of the AASM. As we enter renewal season, I’d like to make you aware of a few changes designed for our members’ benefit.

Hypnogram: Affordable Care Act Advocacy and Education

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Over the past few weeks I have shared several new initiatives the AASM has undertaken to help promote and advance the sleep medicine and your clinical practice, including efforts to brand sleep medicine among the public and establish a Safe Harbor for sleep medicine. In light of the Affordable Care Act, the AASM has been providing members with regular news items in the Weekly Update that highlight provisions within the legislation that affect patient care. I encourage you to read through the healthcare reform overview articles found in this archive in the Legislation section of the AASM website. In addition to education, the AASM is advocating for members on areas related to the Affordable Care Act.

Hypnogram: Safe Harbor

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0500

As the present health care system is transformed by policy and technology, the AASM is spearheading efforts to foster a comprehensive sleep health care model for our patients. As I announced, the Board of Directors has approved a public relations plan that brands the sleep team, promotes longitudinal care for patients with sleep disorders, and heightens awareness of sleep among the general public. A concurrent initiative to create a Safe Harbor is launching this month.

Hypnogram: SAFE-D and SAFE-T

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0500

As I discussed in the last HypnoGram, the AASM is continuing its commitment to awareness of sleep disorders among the public through a branding and public relations initiative set to launch this fall. I’d like to tell you about other efforts by the AASM to promote awareness of sleep disorders and their effects.

Hypnogram: The role of the sleep physician

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Every day we hear from our patients that the care they receive for their sleep disorders has transformed their lives. The sleep health care provided by an expert team – captained by board certified sleep medicine physicians – improves their health, job performance, relationships and well-being.

Hypnogram: Affordable Care Act

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0500

With the recent 5-4 decision of the Supreme Court to uphold the Affordable Care Act, there is much speculation on how this legislation will change clinical practice as more than 32 million Americans are expected to enter the health care system. While the unknowns are greater than what we currently understand about the ACA, the AASM has been analyzing what is in store for sleep medicine. Over the next several weeks, we will provide you with summaries of relevant sections of the Act and the corresponding requirements. Hopefully this information will help equip you in moving forward with your practice.

Hypnogram: An Introduction

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Welcome to my first edition of the HypnoGram. This blog, started by Nancy Collop, has been a helpful resource for members, and I intend to maintain an open line of communication with you. Throughout the year, I will keep you updated on initiatives of the Board of Directors, thoughts on the state of the sleep field, and new programs and services the AASM is introducing for you.

Hypnogram: A pivotal year in sleep

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Boston – what a fabulous city! They have great tea parties, sports teams, restaurants and historic sites. And this year, Boston will be hosting the premier sleep meeting in the United States – SLEEP 2012. It is shaping up to be our best and biggest meeting ever, so you won’t want to miss it.

Hypnogram: Membership Sections

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Wow, what a spring – no winter and then March was like summer. The poor plants were so confused, no azaleas or dogwoods for the Masters and no tulips for the Kentucky Derby! One can only speculate what the summer will bring. But one thing we do expect is a great SLEEP annual meeting in June – and in the great city of Boston! Tea parties, revolutions, famous people like Paul Revere, Sam Adams, and Mary Dyer (go ahead and look it up). It is looking to be one of our most successful meetings ever, so I hope you have registered and booked your hotel room!

HypnoGram: Nurses & Physician Assistants

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Hope everyone is adjusting well to the time change. I do like getting home on occasion in the daylight, but waking up earlier is tough. The daffodils, azaleas and green pine pollen are out – so we all know that Spring has sprung!

HypnoGram Innovation & Political Action

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

I am hopeful that by now you have had an opportunity to read the AASM’s recent proposal for the Innovation Care Delivery and Management Program for Patients with OSA (ICDMPPO), which was submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to its Health Care Innovation Challenge. We at the AASM feel that this important proposal represents the future of clinical care for adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

HypnoGram: 10,000 Members

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

The AASM now has 10,000 members – one member for every lake in Minnesota or as many people as in the city of Aliquippa. This is an incredible milestone for all of us. I am told the first member was recruited in 1974 – and now we have our 10,000^th member. The AASM is the largest membership society dedicated to sleep medicine and is still growing! We are all acutely aware of the challenges ahead of us, but with 10,000 members and an influx of newly ABMS-certified sleep specialists, we are poised to continue to move the specialty of sleep medicine ahead.

HypnoGram: Happy New Year

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Wow, can you believe it is 2012?!! Now how long will it take you to date things correctly? I have already messed up three times! It promises to be a very exciting year – a national election, the Olympics, our biggest SLEEP annual meeting yet, the addition of the AASM’s 10,000th member, and who knows what else. One thing is for sure, it will be full of surprises.

Holiday HypnoGram

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Happy Holidays! The AASM has been quite busy on numerous initiatives during this holiday season. We are working diligently on the proposal that the AASM will be submitting for the CMS Health Care Innovation Challenge. We also have had a Nominating Committee meeting during which a new president-elect and board member were proposed. Those names will be presented to the board of directors in January for approval. The SAD task force (Sleep Apnea Definitions) has been examining the current respiratory definitions in the scoring manual.

HypnoGram: Health Care Innovation Challenge

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The AASM received an early Christmas gift this year. CMS has a process to apply for the “Health Care Innovation Challenge.” They are awarding up to $1 billion in grants for those who implement “the most compelling new ideas to deliver health, improved care and lower costs.” The AASM is up to the challenge, and we are planning to submit a modified version of our integrated care delivery model for obstructive sleep apnea. The award cycles are March 2012 and August 2012. We will submit our letter of intent by Dec. 19 and the full application by Jan. 27, 2012.

HypnoGram: Thanksgiving

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Oh what a great day Thanksgiving can be – good food, family and a good snooze during the football game! But wait, why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? Oh yeah, that Pilgrim and Native American thing. The first “American Thanksgiving” probably occurred in the 1500s in Saint Augustine, Florida; but for the Pilgrims, the official date was Dec. 13, 1621. In 1789, our first president, George Washington, decreed the first “United States” Thanksgiving Day; but it still wasn’t an official holiday. Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November as the national day of Thanksgiving; but again, not until 1941 did Congress permanently establish the day, the fourth Thursday in November, as a national holiday.

HypnoGram: Membership Renewal

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

I just returned from our fall Board of Directors meeting. In the upcoming weeks, I will be giving you information on many of the initiatives we discussed including our new Standards of Practice procedures, a new process for updating the scoring manual, the progress on the ICSD-3, our integrated management proposal, a taskforce examining advanced practice nurses and PAs, the update on respiratory events scoring, and lots more. I want to use this week’s blog to encourage you to renew your AASM membership for 2012. We are rapidly growing and hope that we will have 10,000 members before the end of next year.

HypnoGram: Electronic medical record

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0500

I am far from a computer geek. However, I spend so much time on a computer that I have come to know my way around adequately. As president of the AASM, I am trying to understand and determine what direction we should go with in regards to the electronic medical record (EMR). As most of you are aware, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Congress developed a formula of incentives and penalties for EMR adoption; and, by the way, the penalties begin in 2015.

HypnoGram: The Scoring Manual

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The weather is cooling, the nights are longer and the leaves are changing. So what is changing at the AASM? We are working on a process to update/revise the scoring manual. I received the draft version of the updated respiratory rules this week from the “SAD” taskforce. This now is headed to the board of directors for their perusal and input. This has prompted us to think about how we will update the scoring manual going forward...

HypnoGram: Public Education

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0500

I read with interest the recent editorial about Dr. William Dement in the journal SLEEP. As everyone in the sleep field knows, Dr. Dement is a true champion of the field and an advocate for public education. We should all strive to do the same – promote good sleep habits, discuss the importance of sleep disorders and not be ashamed or reluctant to tell people what our profession is or interests are because it is not “sexy” or “flashy.” I do not need to regale this audience with the statistics about how sleep deprivation impacts our economy, personal lives or health. Every one of us should be on our soapbox telling everyone we know about the importance of sleep.

HypnoGram: The APSS

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The APSS is a partnership between the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. It was formed in 2002 and has its own set of bylaws. What does the APSS do? It has two main functions: The APSS administers our annual scientific meeting, which is now known as the SLEEP Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, and it produces the journal SLEEP.

HypnoGram: Sleep medicine certification

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The summer is drawing to a close with Labor Day in view and many schools back in session – and along with that all the traffic! The fall also brings the last chance for the “grandfathers and grandmothers” to sit for the American Board of Medical Specialties sleep medicine certification examination. I had the privilege to lecture at the second of three board review courses administered by the AASM in Denver a couple of weeks back. The room was packed as it will be for the next one scheduled for Reston, Va., in September.

HypnoGram: AASM staff

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0500

This week’s HypnoGram will focus on the AASM staff. I have been a member of the AASM since 1990 and have greatly enjoyed watching it grow. For those of you who have worked with the AASM staff, I am sure you will agree that they are great – always professional, courteous and helpful. The number of staff has grown commensurate with the society. The AASM has added several PhDs to assist with the development of practice parameters; MBAs to assist with accounting; as well as people with political and health economics experience to assist with legislative and coding issues.

HypnoGram: My first board meeting as president

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Welcome back to my latest HypnoGram following a short hiatus while preparing for my first official AASM board of directors meeting as the president. We met in “the big apple,” which would have better been described as “the baked apple” or “a warm apple tart” as the temperatures were in the 100s! But don’t worry, the board was huddled up in an air-conditioned hotel meeting room for the weekend so we were not exposed to that dreadful heat!

HypnoGram: Standards in Sleep Medicine

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500

My thoughts for this week center around STANDARDS. The AASM has set the standards for sleep medicine since its inception many years ago: Practice parameters; center accreditation; standards for physicians, which eventually morphed into the American Board of Sleep Medicine; ASTEP, an education program for sleep technologists; DME accreditation; out-of-center sleep testing accreditation; the list goes on. But all of these processes require constant evaluation and re-evaluation to keep them current. As the field has grown, so has the AASM staff, by leaps and bounds, to stay ahead of the required changes. As healthcare reform looms large, the AASM - as the leader in the field of sleep medicine - needs to stay ahead of the curve by anticipating changes and being nimble in improving our standards as necessary.

HypnoGram: Current AASM Projects

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Hello everyone and welcome to the second installment of the Hypnogram. This week I want to update you on some of the current projects the AASM is working on. Out of center sleep testing for sleep apnea is currently a vexing issue for many centers. We are trying to help centers in their deployment of OCST.

Welcome to the HypnoGram Blog

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Hello to all AASM members, and welcome to the first edition of the HypnoGram. This blog updates members on the workings of the board of directors and highlight activities of the AASM. I suspect that some weeks it will be full of board related information, such as those weeks following our board meetings and executive committee phone calls, and other weeks it will be more editorial in nature with musings of mine on the state of our field.