Member-Get-A-Member Grand Prize Winner Announced
Congratulations to Raquel Rothe, CRT, RRT, who is the Grand Prize Winner of the 2011 AASM Member-Get-A-Member (MGM) campaign. Ms. Rothe will receive a free AASM course registration, including hotel and travel! All AASM members are invited to participate in the 2012 MGM campaign. For every new or reinstated AASM Regular or Fellow Member that you recruit for the 2012 membership year, you will receive a $15 Recognition of Excellence Money Voucher that can be used toward AASM resources and entry into a drawing for a complimentary 2013 course registration. And don’t forget to renew your own AASM 2012 membership online!
New Sleep Medicine Therapies course for physicians opens for registration
During the new Sleep Medicine Therapies course, scheduled for February 24-25, 2012 at the Arizona Biltmore resort in Phoenix, Arizona, faculty will utilize case-based discussions, pro/con debates and panel discussions to review over 15 controversial areas that sleep specialists encounter on a daily basis in clinical practice. Featuring several hot-topics in the field, presentations will include: the use of circadian bio-markers in clinical practice by Phyllis Zee, MD, PhD; improving CPAP compliance by Terri Weaver, PhD and many more. Registration for this course is now open. For more information about this course—including topics, faculty and CME information—or to register, please visit the AASM website.
Discount pricing on pediatric sleep medicine products this November
During the month of November, take 25% off of pediatric sleep medicine products from the AASM. Equip staff at your facility with the resources needed to provide effective treatment to pediatric patients through the purchase of these products including educational slide sets, patient education brochures and the AASM’s Making Sleep Studies Child Friendly DVD. To order bedtime stories for your pediatric patients, or to take advantage of the sale on pediatric sleep medicine products, visit the AASM Online Store.
Poor sleep quality in first, third trimesters linked to preterm births
A study published in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP shows a significant risk for preterm birth in women reporting sleep disruptions during their first and third trimesters. The connection remained even after medical risk factors and income levels were taken into account.
How lonely you are may impact how well you sleep, research shows
Loneliness is not only heartbreaking, it breaks up a normal night’s sleep, a new study shows. Researchers say compromised sleep may be one pathway by which feelings of loneliness adversely affect our health.
Submit your abstract and session proposals for SLEEP 2012
Take part in this meeting by submitting a scientific abstract or session proposal. Individuals may begin submitting their abstracts and proposals beginning Friday, October 28, 2011. Guidelines for the submission of abstracts and proposals are now available in the SLEEP 2012 Call for Abstracts and Session Proposals or on the meeting’s website at www.sleepmeeting.org. Session proposals will be accepted through Thursday, December 1, 2011. Abstract submissions for oral presentations and poster presentations will be accepted through Thursday, December 15, 2011.
AASM accepting applications for the 2012 Young Investigator Research Forum
Applications are now being accepted for the 2012 AASM Young Investigator Research Forum. The forum will provide young investigators the opportunity for collegial interaction with established senior faculty members across the broad spectrum of clinical sleep research, as well as NIH scientific and program officers. The application process must be completed by Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. Please visit the AASM website to download the application for the 2012 Young Investigator Research Forum.
Revised NIH Grants Policy Statement Published
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently announced a revision to the NIH Grants Policy Statement. The revision replaces the NIH Grants Policy Statement (10/2010) as a standard term and condition of award. This applies only to NIH grants and cooperative agreements with budget periods beginning on or after October 1, 2011. According to the NIH announcement, the revision does not introduce any new material, but instead incorporates new and modified requirements, clarifies certain policies and implements changes in statutes, regulations and policies that have been applied since the previous Grants Policy Statement. A summary of the changes is available to download on the NIH website.
NIH 5th Annual Dissemination and Implementation Conference is March 19-20, 2012
The 5th Annual NIH Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation: Research at the Crossroads will be held March 19-20, 2012, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Rockville, Md. The conference will facilitate communicating and networking for researchers, evaluators and implementers who are interested in identifying opportunities and strategies for overcoming obstacles for dissemination and implementation research/evaluation. There is no fee for registration. Abstracts for posters, oral presentations, and panel sessions are invited. The deadline for proposals is Nov. 10, 2011.
Submit your electronic prescribing incentive hardship exemption request by Tuesday, Nov. 1
The submission deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 1 for Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program hardship requests. Providers must submit requests on the CMS electronic submission site to avoid the Medicare ePrescribing penalty that starts January 1, 2012. Eligible providers who do not successfully prescribe electronically per Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requirements will receive a penalty of -1 percent of allowable changes.
Congressional support grows for SGR repeal in deficit package
Earlier this month, a bipartisan letter signed by 113 members of the U.S. House of Representatives was sent to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (or “super committee”) urging it to include repeal of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula in its final deficit reduction legislation. The letter highlighted that further short-term patches to the SGR would “continue to distort the picture of our nation’s fiscal status” and increase the cost of a permanent solution. It urged the committee to repeal the SGR and replace it with “a payment system that promotes efficiency, quality and value and ensures access to medical services for Medicare beneficiaries.”
CMS offers hospitals guidance for meeting meaningful use criteria
CMS has released additional guidance for hospitals on the process of attesting to the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR). Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.CMS' guidance also states that:
- If hospitals have concerns about the accuracy of submitted data, facilities should work with their vendor or the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to improve the accuracy of their equipment; and
- Hospitals should save a copy of the clinical quality measures report as evidence of attestation in case the data are needed for an audit.
CMS releases final rules on ACO’s
The federal health reform law requires federal health programs to begin contracting with ACOs starting in January 2012. ACOs aim to lower costs and improve care by fostering cooperation between physicians, hospitals and other providers. HHS estimates that ACOs will save Medicare between $510 million and $960 million during the first three years. CMS released proposed ACO rules over the summer. However, the response from stakeholders were mostly unfavorable. Comments ranged from requesting that the management of ACOs should be simplified to arguing that rule creates too many bureaucratic and legal hurdles. Groups also commented that the number of quality standards will require excessive data management and are worried that potential savings are limited.
Health and Human Services (HHS) solicits opinions from health provider groups on essential benefits
Health and Human Services (HHS) conducted a private meeting last week with health care provider groups to discuss the elements of an "essential health benefits" package in new state-based health insurance exchanges. The federal health reform law mandates that by January 2014 states must create insurance exchanges that provide coverage options for individuals and small businesses. States can choose to administer their own exchanges, for which they must have some infrastructure in place by January 2013, or ask the federal government to run the exchanges for them.
Final days for October sale on personalized patient education brochure orders
Until October 31, 2011, AASM individual and center members have the opportunity to save $20.00 on each pack of 100 personalized patient education brochures ordered from the AASM (a savings of more than 30%). An exclusive benefit of membership, ordering personalized brochures allows you to have your contact information professionally printed on the back of any of the AASM's more than 25 patient education brochures. Personalized patient education brochures are an ideal take-away for sleep awareness events in your community or to distribute to patients and prospective patients at your facility. For more information about personalized brochures, including design guidelines, visit the AASM Online Store.
AASM offers last minute sleep medicine board review resources
Planning to take the October 27, 2011 or November 10, 2011 American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) sleep medicine certification exam? With time running out to prepare, be sure to take advantage of several online review resources through the AASM Online Learning Center including board review and scoring practice exams, 200-epoch scoring reviews, and board review online learning modules. Each of these on-demand resources allows you to sharpen your skills on exam topics from your own home or office. To learn more about each of these resources, or to begin your exam review, visit the AASM Online Learning Center.
Classification system proposed for outpatient sleep apnea testing devices
A new classification system that details the type of signals measured by out-of-center testing devices for obstructive sleep apnea appears in the October issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. The system categorizes out-of-center devices based on measurements of Sleep, Cardiovascular, Oximetry, Position, Effort and Respiratory (SCOPER) parameters. The paper also describes the criteria for evaluating the devices, based on pre-test and post-test probabilities.
House Democrats and Senate Republicans offer debt-reduction recommendations
House Democrats from 16 committees and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee submitted their deficit-reduction recommendations to the debt panel. The 12-member panel, also known as the "supercommittee", had requested House and Senate committees to submit their ideas at the end of last week. House Democrats recommended maintaining the current Medicare eligibility age, reducing waste and fraud and maintaining programs established by the health care reform. Senate Republicans recommended repealing the federal health reform law, overhauling medical malpractice and turning Medicaid into a block grant system.
HypnoGram: Electronic medical record
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.
Earn CME online for the October 15 issue of JCSM
The October 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine is now available on the newly launched JCSM website. AASM members can login and earn continuing medical education (CME) credits by reading the full articles designated for CME and passing an online post-test within one year of the date of publication. Studies designated for CME credit in the October issue are: “Comparison of Adjustable and Fixed Oral Appliances for the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea” and “Long-Term Use of a Nasal Expiratory Positive Airway Pressure (EPAP) Device as a Treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).” Visit the JCSM website for a full list of articles eligible for CME, or for detailed instructions on how to earn CME.
Renew your membership online for 2012
You can now renew your AASM 2012 membership online! Renew today to continue receiving the journal SLEEP and Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine online, coding and reimbursement support, national and local representation, discounts on professional resources, education and networking opportunities and much more! To renew your membership, register an account or login to the AASM website. Renewal invoices will be mailed to members in late October and are currently available for download online, allowing you to renew via mail or fax. Please contact the AASM membership department with questions regarding your membership at 630-737-9756 or AASMmembership@aasmnet.org
Congratulations to new Fellow Member of the AASM
Fellow status in the AASM is a unique honor which recognizes special competency in sleep medicine and significant contributions to the field. We are pleased to welcome Syed J Murtaza, MD, FAASM as a new Fellow Member. If you are interested in becoming a Fellow member of the AASM, please review the requirements on the AASM website.
Medicare Announces National Provider Call about Revalidation of Enrollment
In an August Weekly Update Article, the AASM announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be requiring a revalidation process for providers who enrolled in the Medicare program prior to Mar 25, 2011. CMS has indicated that most providers will need to revalidate enrollment. On Thursday Oct 27 from 12:30-2pm ET, CMS will hold a National Provider Call to review information related to the revalidation process. For more information, and to register for this free session, the AASM has provided a link to the CMS call registration website in the full version of this article.
Health care reform overview: Investments and financing
The last article in the continuing series on the Patient Protect and Affordable Care Act focuses on bill’s Investments and Financing. AASM legislative analysts explain how the bill includes investments in Medicare, the workforce, community and school-based health centers, trauma care and more. The article also details how the costs of providing coverage to an estimated additional 32 million Americans at $938 billion over ten years will be financed.
AASM accredits another non-Medicare DME supplier
The AASM congratulates Sleep Disorders Clinic of Dallas in Plano, Texas, which is the latest durable medical equipment (DME) supplier to earn AASM Accreditation of Non-Medicare DME Suppliers. Facilities interested in earning AASM DME supplier accreditation can visit the AASM website to view and download the standards and application for this program. By earning AASM DME supplier accreditation, a facility will have the opportunity to: obtain integrated sleep medicine accreditation, gain recognition as a DME provider that meets the highest standards of quality and enhance its eligibility for non-Medicare insurance reimbursement.