Thought Leaders Articles
Updates from the AASM president and other leaders in the organization
As we prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends, I want to thank you for your continued support and involvement as an AASM member. I am especially grateful to those of you who volunteer your time and contribute your expertise by serving on an AASM committee, section or task force.
I’m pleased to announce that the AASM is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project. Through a five-year cooperative agreement, the AASM will develop and implement the project to reduce the staggering national burden of poor sleep health and sleep illness.
As a professional membership society, the AASM offers multiple ways for you to contribute to the advancement of the sleep field through voluntary service. In particular, I want to bring your attention to two noteworthy opportunities.
Promoting the AASM vision of achieving optimal health through better sleep requires a multi-faceted approach to raise public awareness of the importance of healthy sleep.
As the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) ushers in changes that are likely to alter the landscape of health care delivery in the U.S., the field of sleep medicine is undergoing its own transformation. “The Future is Here,” my editorial in the Sept. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, outlines current priorities for the sleep field and the AASM.
The Board of Directors recently reviewed and recalibrated the AASM vision and mission statements as part of a strategic planning process.
Recently the AASM requested that members complete a preauthorization survey to help us gather data from your experience with utilization management review and preauthorization for diagnostic sleep testing. I am grateful to all of the members who took the time to complete this survey.
For the next year one of my goals as president is to ensure that the AASM continues to fight for our members on issues related to insurance coverage and reimbursement for sleep medicine services.
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
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.