AASM streamlines the sleep facility accreditation process

The AASM has made a significant change to the sleep facility accreditation process that will enable applicants to become accredited faster. An additional change will reduce the cost, time and information required when a facility submits a Relocation Special Circumstance Application. The two process changes are described below:

New Accreditation Site Visit Process:

During the last year, the AASM has offered an Expedited Accreditation Program for sleep facilities that were affected by newly implemented local coverage determination (LCD) policy requirements. Under that program, facilities have been able to receive accreditation faster due to a revised accreditation process that allows the site visit to be scheduled after the AASM Board of Directors issues an approval of accreditation. Due to the overwhelming success of this program, the AASM has revised the general accreditation process to incorporate aspects of the expedited program.

Effective May 1, 2018, all sleep facilities that submit a new accreditation application, or a reaccreditation application requiring a site visit, will fall under a revised accreditation process, which includes a site visit after the Board has made an initial accreditation decision. This revised accreditation process will noticeably reduce the length of time it takes a facility to receive accreditation from 4-6 months to as little as 2-4 months.

Relocation Special Circumstance Application:

Effective May 1, 2018, the Relocation Special Circumstance Application fee will be reduced to $1,000 due to two major changes to the application process:

• The application will require less information, focusing primarily on changes to the facility because of its relocation. This will include contact information (address location, phone numbers), facility license, floor plan and emergency policies. Staffing and other policies will not be required in this application but will be reviewed during an on-site visit at the time of the facility’s next full reaccreditation review cycle.
• A remote site visit will be conducted instead of an on-site visit. The remote site visit will be performed between the AASM and the facility director/designee and will consist of a remote walkthrough of the facility and a review of changes in relation to the new location.

This revised Relocation Special Circumstance Application will greatly improve the experience for all relocating programs. This new process will apply to facilities that open a Relocation Special Circumstance Application on or after May 1, 2018.

Find more information in the updated Accreditation Process & Policies document. If you have questions about AASM accreditation, please contact the Accreditation Department at accreditation@aasm.org.