Resource from Access Audiology electronic newsletter
Vol. 6, No. 6, November-December 2007:
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
http://www.asha.org/members/aud/access-aud-online/AAUD1107
© 2007 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. All rights reserved.
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
Program Checklist
This checklist may be used to determine how well EHDI programs are meeting the
Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) recommendations. The categories JCIH
designated as having key updates in the 2007 Position Statement define the areas
for examining existing programs. For each No” answer, a review of that program
component is suggested to determine the feasibility of modifying the current
program to reach the recommended guidelines.
Brandt Culpepper, PhD, CCC-A
Northside Hospital
Atlanta, Georgia
brandt.culpepper@northside.com
1. Definition of targeted hearing loss
x Does your program’s definition of hearing loss targeted for
identification through your newborn hearing screening include
congenital
o sensory hearin g loss that is unilateral or bilateral? ͘<HV͘1R
o permanent condu ctive hearing loss that is unilateral or
bilateral?
͘<H V͘1R
o neural hearing loss that is unilateral or bilateral? ͘<H V͘1R
2. Hearing-screening and rescreening protocols
x Does your program refer infants who do not pass AABR
screenings in the NICU directly to an audiologist for
rescreening?
͘<H V͘1R
x Are infants rescreened bilaterally upon referring the initial
hearing screening even if only one ear fails the initial
screening?
͘<H V͘1R
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program Checklist 2
x When infants are readmitted in the first month of l ife when
there are conditions associated with potential hearing loss (for
instance, h yperbilirubinemia that requires exchange
transfusion or culture-positive sepsis), is a repeat hearing
screening performed before hospital discharge?
͘<H V͘1R
x Does your program have a mechanism to screen home births
and other out-of-hospital births?
͘<H V͘1R
x Does your state have written collaborative agreements with
border states for sharing hearing screening results and follow -
up information?
͘<H V͘1R
x Does your program have a mechanism in place to contact
families to arrange for a hearing screening for babies who are
missed or otherwise discharged before a hearing screening has
been performed?
͘<H V͘1R
x Does your program’s infant discharge summary contain
information about hearing screening status for infants who are
transferred?
͘<H V͘1R
3. Diagnostic audiology evaluation
x Do you have a list of professionals in your area w ho provide
o diagnostic services to infants and young children who
are deaf or hard of hearing in your area?
͘<H V͘1R
o sedated AB R testing? ͘<H V͘1R
o unsedated ABR testing? ͘<H V͘1R
o amplification services? ͘<H V͘1R
x Do you know whic
h
of
y
our referral sources acce
p
t Medicaid?
͘<H V͘1R
x Do you know which referral sources have interpreters
available?
͘<H V͘1R
x Does your program provide ABR testing as part of the
complete diagnostic hearing evaluation for children younger
than 3 for confirmation of permanent hearing loss?
͘<H V͘1R
x Does your program recommend hearing reevaluations for
infants with risk indicator s based on their relative likelihood
of a delayed-onset hearing loss?
͘<H V͘1R
x Who provides ongoing surveillance for infants and young
children with risk indicators for late onset or progressive
hearing loss?
͘<H V͘1R
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program Checklist 3
4. Medical evaluation
x Do you have a list of referral sources in your area that provide
o genetics consultations for infants and young children
with hearing loss and their families?
͘<H V͘1R
o otolaryngology services? ͘<H V͘1R
o vision evaluations? ͘<H V͘1R
x
D
o
y
ou know which of
y
our referral sources acce
p
t Medicaid?
͘<H V͘1R
x Do you know which of your referral sources have interpreters
available?
͘<H V͘1R
x Are your medical referral sources aware of the single list of
risk factors for congenital and acquired hearing loss?
͘<H V͘1R
5. Early intervention
x Are all families of infants with any degree of bilateral or
unilateral hearing loss eligible for early intervention services?
͘<H V͘1R
x Do you have a current list of professionals providing early
intervention services appropriate for infants and young
children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families,
including (but not limited to) audiologists, speech-lang uage
pathologists, and educators of the deaf?
͘<H V͘1R
x Does your program have access to a single point of entry for
specialty services for infants and young children with hearing
loss?
͘<H V͘1R
x Do your early intervention services provide both home-based
and center- bas ed options for families of infants and young
children with hearin g loss?
͘<H V͘1R
x Do your early intervention service providers ensure that
infants and young children with hearing loss receive routine
developmental assessments at 6 month intervals throu ghout
the first 3 years of life?
͘<H V͘1R
6. Surveillance and screening in the medical home
x Are the professionals providing the medical home for your
infants familiar with the AAP pediatric periodicity schedule
outlining regular surveillance of developmental m ilestones,
auditory skills, parental concerns, and middle-ear status that
should be performed in the medical home with validated
assessment tools at 9, 18, and 2 4–30 months of age?
͘<H V͘1R
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program Checklist
4
x Are infants and young children who do not pass the speech-
language portion of the global screening referred for speech-
language evaluations and audiology assessments?
͘<H V͘1R
7. Communication
x Does your program provide results of the initial hearing
screening to parents and the infants’ medical home?
͘<H V͘1R
x Are communications wit h parents confidential and presented
in a caring and sensitive manner, preferably face-to-face?
͘<H V͘1R
x Are parents provided the appropriate follow-up and resource
information when further screening or assessment is needed?
͘<H V͘1R
x Are materials that are disseminated to famili es providing
accurate information at an appropriate reading level and in a
language that they are able to comprehend?
͘<H V͘1R
x Does your program ensure that each infant is linked to a
medical home?
͘<H V͘1R
x Is information at each stage of the EHDI process
communicated to families in a culturally sensitive and
understandable format?
͘<H V͘1R
x Is individual hearing screening i nformation, diagnostic
information, and habilitation information conveyed promptly
to the medical home and to the state EHDI coo rdinator?
͘<H V͘1R
x Are families of infants and young children with confirmed
permanent hearing loss provided information regarding all
communication options and available hearing technologies in
a complete and unbiased manner? Are informed family
choices and desired family outcomes used to guide the
decision-makin g process?
͘<H V͘1R
8. Information infrastructure
x Has your state implemented data management and tracking
systems as part o f an integrated health information system to
monitor the quality of EHDI services and to provide
recommendations for improving systems of care?
͘<H V͘1R
x Is there an effective link between health care providers and
educational service providers to ensure successful transitions
and to determine outcomes of infants and young children with
hearing loss for purposes of planning and establishing public
health policy?
͘<H V͘1R