DARIEN, Ill., Sept. 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has issued a request for proposals to establish for the field of sleep medicine a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) that meets the criteria established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
As the first QCDR dedicated solely to sleep medicine, the national registry will facilitate data collection by board-certified sleep medicine physicians and AASM-accredited sleep facilities across the U.S. The registry will support the sleep field by promoting quality measure implementation, measure testing and validation, prospective data collection for research analysis, and quality improvement activities.
“The establishment of a Qualified Clinical Data Registry will be an important milestone for the sleep medicine specialty,” said AASM President Dr. Douglas Kirsch. “Analysis of data extracted from this national registry will help ensure that sleep medicine clinicians are providing high quality, evidence-based care that improves health outcomes for patients who have a sleep disorder.”
The AASM is requesting proposals from clinical registry vendors to build, host and maintain a software platform that supports the sleep medicine QCDR. The system will have to support manual entry of de-identified patient, provider, and sleep facility data while enabling collection of data from multiple electronic sources, including electronic health record (EHR) systems and other clinical registries. It also will have to allow data transmission required for participation in national quality reporting programs [i.e., the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)].
The AASM’s goal is for the registry to be fully operational by Sept. 1, 2020, in time for the 2020 QCDR self-nomination period. The initial agreement with the selected vendor will be a three-year contract with the potential for an extension. Proposal submissions, with itemized costs, must be submitted to the AASM by 5 p.m. CDT on Oct. 1, 2018.
For more information or to receive a copy of the request for proposals, please contact AASM Director of Health Policy Diedra Gray, MPH, at DGray@aasm.org.
About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Established in 1975, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) improves sleep health and promotes high quality, patient-centered care through advocacy, education, strategic research, and practice standards. The AASM has a combined membership of 10,000 accredited member sleep centers and individual members, including physicians, scientists and other health care professionals (https://aasm.org/).