Tag: American Academy of Sleep Medicine

DARIEN, Ill. – The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has created a two-year pilot program to evaluate and certify software that uses auto-scoring functionality to score polysomnograms. The AI/Autoscoring Certification Program will independently verify the performance of auto-scoring systems. To obtain certification, the software must demonstrate accuracy that is equivalent or better than manual scoring. The pilot program is limited to sleep stage scoring. “Artificial intelligence technology...

DARIEN, Ill. – The health care industry is headed in “the right direction” when it comes to recognizing the importance of sleep to good health, says Dr. Jennifer Martin, the new president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.  “When I started my career more than 20 years ago, I remember people telling me it’s just not that important,” she said. “I don’t hear that a lot anymore. Now I get a lot of questions about what people might do to...

DARIEN, Ill. – The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has named Jennifer Martin as president of its board of directors.  Martin, a licensed clinical psychologist, is a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is also associate director for clinical and health services research at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System’s Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center.    “I am honored...

DARIEN, Ill. – The American Academy of Sleep Medicine applauds the U.S. Senate for passing the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would eliminate twice yearly time changes, but it says establishing a permanent standard time would be a better option.  The Senate on Tuesday passed the bill to make daylight saving time permanent starting in 2023.  AASM in 2020 issued a position statement supporting the elimination of seasonal time changes. It says data show the sudden change...

ARLINGTON, Va. – More than half of Americans (56%) say they have experienced an increase in sleep disturbances since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according a survey commissioned by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.   Of the reported sleep disturbances, or “COVID-somnia,” most common was trouble falling or staying asleep (57%). Others included sleeping less (46%), experiencing worse quality sleep (45%) and having more disturbing dreams (36%).  “COVID-somnia...

DARIEN, Ill. – The American Academy of Sleep Medicine will use a new grant from the Centers for Disease Control to reach the millions of Americans who don’t know they have obstructive sleep apnea, says Dr. Raman Malhotra, president.  “OSA is very common and although we tend to see lots of patients in clinic, it’s interesting that 80% are undiagnosed,” he said. “Millions of Americans don’t even know the symptoms or don’t know what to do if they...

DARIEN, Ill. – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded a grant to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for a new awareness program focused on improving recognition of obstructive sleep apnea.  Nearly 30 million American adults have OSA and 80% are undiagnosed, costing the U.S. more than $149 billion annually in increased health care and mental health care costs, lost work productivity and increased accidents, according to a press release.  “Millions...

DARIEN, Ill. – The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has organized its second annual Student Sleep Health Week, Sept. 12-18, to encourage students, families and teachers to recognize that sleep is essential for health and learning. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, 78% of high school students and 34% of children don’t get sufficient sleep on an average school night, and studies show that the COVID-19 pandemic...

DARIEN, Ill. – A proposed web-based app called “MySleepVillage” took second place in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s first ever Change Agents, a contest designed to generate creative ideas for diagnosing and treating obstructive sleep apnea.  The app aims to streamline patient communication and testing; connect to physicians, insurers and medical equipment companies; and provide options for remote monitoring of CPAP usage. The team behind it estimates that...

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...