An IDTF is a diagnostic testing facility entity that is independent of a physician office or hospital ie it is not owned by a hospital individual physician or group practice of physicians and its purpose is to furnish diagnostic tests and not to directly use test results to treat a patient
The IDTF sleep center must provide for a supervising physician responsible for direct and ongoing oversight of the quality of the polysomnography sleep study test performed proper operation and calibration of any equipment the qualification of nonphysician personnel to operate such equipment and supervision of that nonphysician personnel The supervising physician must perform a general level of supervision over the operations of nonphysician personnel click these links to learn more about sleep disorders and the types of studies used to diagnose them
The supervising physician may not order sleep studies to be performed by the IDTF unless the IDTFs supervising physician is in fact the Medicare beneficiarys treating physician
An IDTF must be surveyed and approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS and will have its own Medicare provider number
An IDTF located somewhere other than in a hospital building cannot share office space or equipment with a physician physician practice or other entity It must remain independent
The benefits of working with an IDTF sleep center
Sleep centers that are set up as IDTFs and are not limited by more strict accreditation guidelines read more about voluntary accreditation standards for sleep centers below and may have more flexibility in providing services as requested by ordering physicians
A large network of sleep centers which is more likely to be an IDTF may have more leverage from economies of scale when contracting with insurance companies and may therefore have more insurance contracts
Things to consider
If an IDTF provides your sleep study typically the supervising physician or interpreting physician may not provide a prescription for recommended therapy like CPAP or engage in discussion about treatment or next steps with the patient This is the responsibility of the referring physician in some cases the referring physician may also interpret the sleep study
What is a hospital based sleep center and who is it best for
Hospitals and health systems have historically established sleep labs within the hospital or on the hospitals campus Most hospital based sleep labs have been structured as part of the hospitals outpatient department or outpatient programs and sleep studies are billed under the hospitals outpatient provider number and under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System OPPS for Medicare patients
The benefits of working with a hospital based sleep center
Increasingly hospital based sleep centers are able to provide services for Medicaid patients whereas physician run sleep centers or IDTFs may not be contracted Note Alaska Sleep Clinic does accept Medicaid
This type of environment may be best for patients with more severe medical conditions or very young children who require one on one attention from healthcare providers and may need special equipment
Things to consider
A hospital based sleep center may have the look and feel of a typical hospital room or it may be designed to look more like a hotel room
A hospital based sleep center may have a long wait time for appointments due to high demand and limited facilities
Depending on the set up of the sleep center sleep studies may be interpreted by a physician that can also see you for consultation or by an independent physician
Different types of voluntary accreditation standards for sleep centers
It is important to make sure that the sleep center you refer to or are referred to by your doctor or medical group meets state standards for healthcare facilities Additionally there are different types of voluntary accreditations that can be obtained by sleep centers depending on the structure of the sleep center physician run vs independent and the type of services provided In California most insurance companies do not require that sleep centers meet AASM or Joint Commission standards but many require that they meet Medicare requirements
AASM Sleep Center Accreditation
Established in 1975 as the Association of Sleep Disorders Centers the American Academy of Sleep Medicine AASM is the only professional society dedicated exclusively to the medical subspecialty of sleep medicine The AASM has a combined membership of 11000 accredited member sleep centers and individual members including physicians scientists and other health care professionals
Since 1977 the AASM has accredited sleep facilities utilizing the AASM Standards for Accreditation of Sleep Disorders Centers More than 2500 sleep centers have achieved accreditation through the AASM
AASM Standards for Accreditation of Sleep Disorders Centers include requirements such as having a board certified sleep specialist review the information provided for all patients to evaluate for potential sleep disorders before proceeding with testing and limits to the number of patients that can be studied at one time per technologist
Heres a link to the AASM accreditation standards
Why Alaska Sleep Clinic
Alyeska International Inc AI dba Alaska Sleep Clinic is a Veteran Owned Small Business VOSB Established as the first independent diagnostic testing facility IDTF sleep clinic in Alaska in 2002 Alaska Sleep Clinic has grown to 4 locations and 13 beds Alaska Sleep Clinic is the most comprehensive sleep clinic in Alaska
Alaska Sleep Clinic is honored to be named not only in the Top 20 Sleep Apnea Blogs on the web but to be in the Top 5 for 2018 and 2019
Alaska Sleep Clinic was honored with the BBB Torch Award for Ethics Business of the Year Award
Alaska Sleep Clinic has the most experience with sleep Telemedicine than any other sleep lab in the state
