| ABSTRACT INFORMATION |
| Presenter Information: |
| Presenter 1: |
Name: Janet Farrell
Affiliation: Department of Public Health
Janet Farrell, Director, Massachusetts Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program and former President of the Directors of Speech and Hearing Programs for State Health and Welfare Agencies.
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| Presenter 2: |
Name: Margaret Toro
Affiliation:
Margaret Toro, Director of Newborn Hearing Screening at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston. Massachusetts Newborn Hearing Screening Program Advisory Committee
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| Presenter 3: |
Name: Rashmi Dayalu
Affiliation:
Rashmi Dayalu, Epidemiologist, Massachusetts Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program.
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| Presenter 4: |
Name: Marcy Chant
Affiliation: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
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| Author Information: |
| Author 1: |
Name: Janet Farrell
Affiliation: Department of Public Health
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| Author 2: |
Name: Margaret Toro
Affiliation: Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston
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| Author 3: |
Name: Marcy Chant
Affiliation: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
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| Author 4: |
Name: Richard Wentworth
Affiliation: Department of Public Health
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| Author 5: |
Name: Rashm Dayalu
Affiliation: Department of Public Health
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| Abstract Information: |
| Title: |
Challenges ensuring hearing screening and follow-up for infants transferred to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit |
| Primary Track: |
1-EHDI Program Enhancement
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| Keyword(s): |
hearing screening, neonatal intensive care unit, NICU, Massachusetts |
Abstract: |
Lost to follow-up/lost-to documentation continues to be a concern for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention programs throughout the nation. The 2006 EHDI data for Massachusetts indicates that 23% of our lost to follow-up/lost to documentation cases were infants that had been transferred from their birth hospital to another facility or within the same facility to a nursery providing a higher level of care. To begin to address this, we have partnered with the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality through a grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau to determine additional strategies that may reduce lost to follow-up/lost to documentation for those children that have been admitted to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Data indicates that many of these infants are at greater risk for hearing loss. It is estimated that >30% of newborns with hearing loss have other special health needs. Working with two Boston teaching hospitals as our primary hospital partners has given us information about operations of the NICU and how children and their medical records are transferred within facilities, to NICU facilities, and from the NICU facilities to community hospitals. We will discuss data collected, lessons learned, and changes that have been implemented at the hospital level and within the Massachusetts EHDI program. We will discuss challenges in collecting newborn hearing screening data that are unique to children that are transferred from their birth hospital to another facility as well as those that are transferred to a higher level nursery within the same facility. We will also discuss the development of a best practices document for staff working in NICU facilities. Information on effective strategies will be presented and the challenges that we continue to face will be shared. |
| Presentation(s): |
Not Available
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| Handouts: |
Not Available
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