title: Measurement of quality to improve care in sleep medicine.
abstract: The Board of Directors of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) commissioned a Task Force to develop quality measures as part of its strategic plan to promote high quality patient-centered care. Among many potential dimensions of quality, the AASM requested Workgroups to develop outcome and process measures to aid in evaluating the quality of care of five common sleep disorders: restless legs syndrome, insomnia, narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea in adults, and obstructive sleep apnea in children. This paper describes the rationale, background, general methods development, and considerations in implementation for these sleep disorder quality measures. The Workgroup papers are published in this issue under the following titles: Quality Measures for the Care of Adult Patients with Restless Legs Syndrome, Quality Measures for the Care of Patients with Insomnia, Quality Measures for the Care of Patients with Narcolepsy, Quality Measures for the Care of Adult Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and Quality Measures for the Care of Pediatric Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.
authors.forename: Timothy I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Morgenthaler
authors.affiliation: CareCentrix, Hartford, CT.
authors.forename: Amy J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Aronsky
authors.affiliation: Saint Thomas Sleep Specialists, Nashville, TN.
authors.forename: Kelly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Carden
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
authors.forename: Ronald D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Chervin
authors.affiliation: American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Darien, IL.
authors.forename: Sherene M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Nathaniel F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Watson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000592:standards*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D056508:Sleep Medicine Specialty / Q000592:standards*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000628:therapy