National Government Services (NGS), a CMS Medicare Contractor for Medicare jurisdictions 6 (Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) and K (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont), has released a revised medical policy article (A53019) for polysomnography and sleep studies, effective Oct. 31, 2019.
The article requires that all hospital-based facilities in these jurisdictions be under the direction and control of physicians who are board-certified or eligible in sleep medicine, and it requires that all non-hospital-based facilities be “certified by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), The Joint Commission, or the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, Inc.”
To demonstrate that a sleep center is certified by the AASM, a sleep facility may apply for and achieve AASM Sleep Facility Accreditation. Facilities seeking sleep center accreditation to meet this medical policy article requirement can take advantage of the AASM Expedited Accreditation program, which was originally created for sleep facilities impacted by recent changes to Medicare coverage policies for sleep studies.
Depending on a facility’s responsiveness and the thoroughness of its application, the AASM may be able to issue an accreditation decision 2 to 4 weeks after application submission. Although the usual expedited accreditation fee is $500, facilities impacted by this sleep study medical policy article may participate in the program for a reduced fee of $150 (total accreditation cost of $4,650), which includes access to the AASM Accreditation Reference Manual.
To request participation in the AASM Expedited Accreditation Program at the reduced fee, or for more information, sleep facilities can contact the AASM Accreditation Department at 630-737-9700 or accreditation@aasm.org.
Updated Jan. 29, 2020
