AASM launches new accreditation option

DARIEN, Ill. – The American Academy of Sleep Medicine is launching a new accreditation application type to simplify the accreditation process for multi-site health systems. Sleep medicine practices and facilities that are under the same ownership or legal entity and operate under the same policies and procedures can create an Accreditation Network to streamline and coordinate multiple accredited programs. “It can be complicated to manage multiple accreditations when health care entities add additional sleep medicine services,” said Dr. Lara Wittine, chair of the AASM Accreditation Committee. “The new AASM Accreditation Network allows the programs within a network to coordinate their accreditation processes, resulting in less paperwork, less redundancy, and less time spent on the administrative aspects of accreditation.” Accredited programs within an Accreditation Network can share information across applications, align accreditation expiration dates, coordinate site visit schedules, and receive volume discounts for accreditation applications and renewals. To achieve AASM accreditation, a sleep program must meet or exceed the AASM standards in core areas such as personnel, facility and equipment, policies and procedures, data acquisition, patient care, and quality assurance. Additionally, the sleep program’s goals must be clearly stated and include plans for positively affecting the quality of medical care in the community it serves. Currently, there are more than 2,600 AASM-accredited sleep facilities in the U.S. and Canada.