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.  Earlier this year, the AASM released its out of center sleep testing accreditation.  These standards were developed so that there would be some bar set for companies and centers to use in setting up their OCST program.  In addition, an AASM taskforce is working on a technology evaluation that is assessing the literature about different OCST devices. This paper is in its final draft form having gone out to the involved industries for their review.  The next step in this process is to develop a new guideline on diagnostic testing for OSA, combining the prior indications for polysomnography and the Clinical Guidelines for Portable Monitoring into one.  This taskforce will be headed up by Dr. Safwan Badr.

Another taskforce ongoing currently is the SAD (Sleep Apnea Definitions) taskforce which is led by Dr. Richard Berry.  This taskforce is examining the current respiratory definitions in the scoring manual with the hope of clarifying some of the rules.  It is hoped that we will have a document from this group by the end of the summer.

Dr. Michael Sateia has agreed to take on the challenge of the next edition of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders. Dr Sateia edited the ICSD2 and from that experience is well qualified to take on this important task.  He has already had a focus group at the SLEEP 2011 meeting and is in the process of choosing the various subcommittees.  A tentative timeline of 2 years has been developed for this group.

We will also continue to build on the Future of Sleep Medicine process begun under the presidency of Dr. Susie Esther.  Dr. Strollo has posted a draft of the white paper from this year’s working group, and I will be moving the process along by examining what we need to do as a society regarding healthcare reform, looking at development of tracking outcomes and integrating sleep services into the electronic medical record.  This will hopefully dovetail nicely into the process we hope to pursue with CMS in the development of an integrated management model for the care of patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Well that’s it for this week – hope everyone has a great 4th of July holiday!

Nancy Collop, MD
President, American Academy of Sleep Medicine