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ABSTRACT INFORMATION
Title: 'Diagnostic Audiology Evaluations Via Telemedicine' Track: 9-Policy, Advocacy, and Legislative Issues Audience: Primary Audience: Secondary Audience: Tertiary Audeince: Keyword(s): Telemedicine, provider shortage, infant evaluation Learning Objectives: 1. Identify key partners in the development and implementation of a teleaudiology project 2. List at least 3 issues for consideration before implementing a teleaudiology project 3. Identify options for Medicaid reimbursement for teleaudiology services Abstract: California has reached a crisis in access to appropriate pediatric audiology for infants who do not pass their newborn hearing screen. A study conducted in 2005 by Mathematica Policy Research identified California as one of the states with the fewest audiologists per capita (2 per 10,000 or fewer). To compound the situation, only a single Au.D. program is operating in California with a maximum enrollment of 10 candidates per year. With 565,000 births annually and a two-stage screening process, each year over 2800 infants require a diagnostic evaluation with approximately 1000 infants identified with hearing loss. Of the 70 facilities approved to see children under three years of age, only one practice between Sacramento and the Oregon border is willing to see low-income infants – and that is only on an sporadic basis. The size of this geographic area is equivalent to that of the state of Georgia, with a mountain range traversing the middle. The size and the topography, as well as the shortage of pediatric audiology providers, results in overwhelming obstacles to infants receiving timely quality diagnostic services. In response, the California Newborn Hearing Screening Program, in conjunction with the University of California Davis Health System, is implementing a teleaudiology pilot project with grant funding from MCHB. This presentation will outline the issues that need to be considered, approaches and obstacles for implementing a teleaudiology project, including remote site location, referral process, ongoing management of infants identified with hearing loss, and strategies for long-term sustainability. Draft protocols and a training curriculum for technicians will be discussed. Billing and coding mechanism for telemedicine will be addressed. Handouts: Handout is not Available
SPEAKER INFORMATION
PRESENTER(S): Lisa Satterfield - CA. Dept of Health Care Services      Credentials: M.S., CCC/A       Lisa Satterfield graduated with her M.S. from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1994 and began as a pediatric audiologist at Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Her career continued in Colorado in private practice, fitting hearing aids and performing vestibular function assessments. She was a clinical supervisor and instructor at California State University, Sacramento before joining the California Newborn Hearing Screening Program in 2006. She has a passion for ensuring quality care and treatment of infants and children with hearing loss and for assisting providers in navigating Medicaid systems.   AUTHOR(S): Hallie Morrow - California Newborn Hearing Screening Program      Credentials: M.D., M.P.H.       BIO: Hallie W. Morrow, M.D., M.P.H., has been a program medical consultant with the California Department of Health Care Services, Children’s Medical Services Branch since 1997. She is responsible for the development and implementation of the California Newborn Hearing Screening Program, including program standards, outreach materials, and provider education efforts. She received her bachelor of arts degree in biology, summa cum laude, from Washington University, graduated from Tulane University School of Medicine, and earned her Master’s of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley. She is board certified in Pediatrics and was in clinical pediatric practice for six years with The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. in Northern California. Dr. Morrow has worked in Public Health administration since 1991. She served as the Maternal and Child Health Director for Solano County, California for six years before joining the California Department of Health Care Services. Lisa Satterfield - CA. Dept of Health Care Services      Credentials: M.S., CCC/A       BIO: Lisa Satterfield graduated with her M.S. from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1994 and began as a pediatric audiologist at Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Her career continued in Colorado in private practice, fitting hearing aids and performing vestibular function assessments. She was a clinical supervisor and instructor at California State University, Sacramento before joining the California Newborn Hearing Screening Program in 2006. She has a passion for ensuring quality care and treatment of infants and children with hearing loss and for assisting providers in navigating Medicaid systems.