Tracking from Birth:Massachusetts Universal Newborn

Hearing Screening Program

MCHB/CDC Annual Meeting on Successful Statewide EHDI Programs

Presenter: Janet M. Farrell, Director

February 2002

Chapter 243 of the Acts of 1998 & DPH Universal Newborn

Hearing Screening Guidelines

• Birth hospital and birth center requirements– Perform hearing screening on all newborns– Submit protocols to DPH for approval– Data agreement with DPH

• Program statistics (aggregate)

• Screening data

Electronic Birth Certificate System Stakeholders

• Registry of Vital Records and Statistics

• Genesis Systems

• MDPH Bureau of Family and Community Health, Office of Statistics and Evaluation

Electronic Birth Certificate System

• Birth data entered at facility

• Downloaded regularly to Vital Records

• Daily updates to Childhood Hearing Data System

• Total delay approximately 5 days from DOB

BirthFacility

VitalRecords

BFCHOSE

CHDS

• Legal– General demographics

• Confidential– Parental demographics and information

• Medical– Confidential medical information including

prenatal care, labor and delivery procedures, maternal & newborn risk indicators, medical conditions, neonatal procedures, etc.

Electronic Birth Certificate System

EBC & Universal Newborn Hearing Screening

EBC & Universal Newborn Hearing Screening

Massachusetts Childhood Hearing Data System (CHDS)

• Statewide tracking and surveillance system

• Objectives: Ensure timely screening, diagnosis, and intervention; Long-term research and collaboration; Develop epidemiological profile for MA

CHDS: Data Sources

CHDS

EBCLegal/Demographic

Medical/ConfidentialScreening

Diagnostic AssessmentProcedures

Type/Degree of LossRisk Indicators

Family contactFollow-up

Early InterventionMedical Home

UNHSP/CHDS and Vital STEPS

• Objective: Develop a central database within MDPH with a common data and application architecture

• Assist to eliminate duplication of effort in data collection

• Increase capacity of DPH to track service delivery

• UNHSP/CHDS currently working towards integration

Future Directions & Challenges

• Evolution to web-based CHDS though Electronic Birth Registration and Vital STEPS

• Further data linkages with existing state programs (i.e. Early Intervention)

• Ensure timely screening, diagnosis, and intervention for home and out-of-state births