Dr. Anuj Chandra, of the Advanced Center for Sleep Disorders, presided over the 4th annual AAPIOS meeting took place at The Depot in Minneapolis, Minn. on June 1. Over 250 people in the field of sleep medicine attended.
Dr. Chandra, who is the current president, brought to light the need for sleep organizations to work with one another in resolving issues that create major obstacles in patient care in the field of sleep medicine. A plethora of different criteria for authorizing sleep disorders testing with different insurance companies resulted in hardships for patients. He also addressed the lack of epidemiological data for sleep disorders for people of Indian origin living in the United States.
Dr. Narender Kumar, former president of AAPI and current chair of AAPIOS, spoke of a partnership between AAPIOS and National AAPI so that the organizations can make a big impact on current policies in the sleep field.
Lifetime achievement awards were given to Dr. Sudhansu Chokroverty and Dr. H.N. Mallick. Awards were also given to the platinum sponsor Fisher & Paykel (F&P) who have been a platinum sponsor for four years. APPIOS secretary Dr. Gautam Samadder expressed deep appreciation on F & P and their commitment to the organization.
Awards were also given out to sponsors Teva Pharmaceuticals, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and Phillips Respironics. Dr. Lawrence Epstein, past president of American Academy of Sleep Medicine, spoke about a welltrinsic network for sleep physicians and groups that benefit a central national credentialing sleep organizations.
New executive committee members were introduced. Dr. Saras Muppana and Dr. Adarsh Gupta will join the current members. The general body was also given an extension in their terms for another year. The next meeting will take place in June 2015 in Seattle.