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AASM calls for greater use of telemedicine by sleep specialists

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has released a position paper that offers recommendations to sleep specialists on incorporating telemedicine into practice to help advance patient health and care quality.

“The integration of telemedicine in sleep medicine practices across the country is an important step forward to improve patient access to high quality sleep health care. Widespread access to the expertise of sleep specialists is desperately needed throughout the U.S., where an estimated 70 million Americans suffer from sleep problems,” Nathaniel Watson, MD, MSc, president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, said in a press release.

The paper offers recommendations for the incorporation of telemedicine into practice, such as:

• The standards of care for telemedicine services should reflect those of in-office visits;
• Clinical judgement should be used to determine the appropriate scope and extent of telemedicine use for the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders;
• Telemedicine services should meet the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act standards; and
• Models for telemedicine care delivery should have quality assurance processes in place that aim to determine process measures, patient outcomes and the experiences of patients and providers.

In addition to supporting the use of telemedicine services, the position paper states support for adequate reimbursement, comparable to in-office visits, for telemedicine services.

The paper also highlights that more research is needed to analyze the effect and long-term outcomes of telemedicine use for sleep medicine.

“The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has been the leader in sleep medicine for the past 40 years. We recognize that embracing telemedicine will help us achieve our mission to improve sleep health and promote high quality, patient-centered care,” Watson said in the release. – by Casey Hower

Disclosures: Singh reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see full study for a list of all other authors’ financial disclosures.