DOCUMENT AND ENTITY INFORMATION	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	May 01, 2013
Entity Registrant Name	AMERICAN SHARED HOSPITAL SERVICES
Entity Central Index Key	0000744825
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Trading Symbol	ams
Entity Common Stock Shares Outstanding		4,605,870
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013