LONG BRANCH – Monmouth Medical Center’s Comprehensive Sleep Medicine Center, the first facility in Monmouth and Ocean counties to earn accreditation from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), recently was awarded renewal of the prestigious designation.
The five-year accreditation designates a commitment to the advancement of sleep medicine, according to the AASM. The academy is an accrediting body that is committed to ensuring that those in the field of sleep medicine provide excellent health care and enhance the awareness of sleep as an important element for health, public safety and quality of life.
An accredited sleep-medicine program is a valuable resource for the community, said Robert Kosinski, M.D., director of Monmouth Medical Center’s Comprehensive Sleep Medicine Center, where patients are treated for such common sleep disorders as insomnia, disruptive snoring, obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy and movement disorders in sleep. Sleep disorders affect all age groups and can cause excessive daytime sleepiness and difficulties in falling asleep and staying asleep.
Responding to the increasingly critical nature of sleep disorders, Monmouth Medical Center’s 1,730-square-foot Sleep Medicine Center houses the latest in computerized monitoring equipment and is staffed by fully trained technicians.
Sleep-related breathing disorders, particularly obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, are relatively common, according to Kosinski, who specializes in evaluating and treating sleep disorders.
“Sleep disorders can have a great impact on daytime functioning, and they may lead to daytime sleepiness and impairment of cognitive function,” he said.
Kosinski said the diagnostic evaluation of sleep disorders often requires overnight examination of the sleeping patient by means of polysomnography to assess severity, effect on sleep architecture and continuity and the effects on gas exchange, cardiac function, etc.
Polysomnography is used in conjunction with the patient’s history, other laboratory tests and observations and the physician’s knowledge of sleep disorders to reach a diagnosis and recommend appropriate treatment, he said.
Kosinski notes that an interdisciplinary team approach to a patient’s sleep disorder can be called for, explaining that a psychologist, neurologist and an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist) might coordinate their clinical efforts on a patient’s behalf. Sleep disorders are not always readily apparent.
“The controlled environment of a sleep medicine center, and the multidisciplinary approach of a comprehensive center, can help pinpoint a clear diagnosis,” Kosinski said.
Referring physicians receive detailed reports on patient diagnoses and suggested follow-up treatment.
Additional information on the Sleep Medicine Center at Monmouth Medical Center is available by calling 732-923-7660 or visiting barnabashealth.org/monmouth.
