2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
Philly Cheesesteak and Trenton Tomato Pie: A Collaborative Approach to Hearing Healthcare Between the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Audiology Department and the New Jersey EHDI Program
A challenge faced by Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Programs is developing effective ways to secure timely documentation of audiologic results for children receiving hearing healthcare services out-of-state. Compliance with state-based regulatory reporting requirements, familiarity with individual state EHDI forms and online reporting systems, and a lack of awareness regarding the importance of reporting results to border-state EHDI programs are often barriers.
Many infants and young children who reside in New Jersey (NJ) are seen at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in Pennsylvania (PA) for audiologic services in both inpatient and outpatient settings. For over fifteen years, the Audiology Department at CHOP and the NJ EHDI program have maintained a collaborative partnership that includes a seamless sharing of results for children living in NJ; from newborn hearing screening to diagnostic audiologic evaluation and subsequent enrollment in early intervention. Collaboration begins at the nursery level where a list of children born in NJ and transferred to CHOP is sent weekly to CHOP’s NJ EHDI Audiology Liaison. Results of inpatient screening or diagnostic audiologic evaluations for these patients are then sent from CHOP to NJ EHDI for data entry into the NJ EHDI reporting system. Outpatient results are entered by audiologists trained to use the NJ EHDI online reporting system. Children through the age of 21 years with permanent hearing loss are also reported to the New Jersey Birth Defects Registry (BDR) by CHOP Audiology.
This state-to-state partnership serves as a bridge between pediatric audiologic care in PA and enrollment in early intervention services in NJ. Additionally, this highly successful collaborative process has proved to be valuable for children and their families, as well as audiologists and EHDI programs in both NJ and PA. The collaboration between programs serves as a model for all border state and territory partnerships.
- 1. Identify potential barriers in obtaining results of hearing healthcare services performed at out-of-state facilities
- 2. Describe the successful collaborative process between the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the New Jersey EHDI Program that allows for a seamless exchange of information for NJ children receiving hearing healthcare at this Pennsylvania based pediatric audiology site
- 3. Review the benefits of developing sustainable partnerships with border state hospitals and pediatric audiology centers
Poster:
3353554_14948ErinCipriano.pdf
Presenter: Erin Cipriano
Erin Cipriano, AuD, CCC-A is a clinical audiologist at the Center for Childhood Communication at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She received her Doctorate of Audiology (AuD) from The University of Florida. Erin has been a practicing audiologist at CHOP for 20 years. Her area of clinical interest is newborn hearing screening and she serves as a clinical leader for the Center's Newborn Hearing Screening Program.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Nancy G. Schneider, M.A., CCC-A, FAAA, has served as the sole audiologist at the New Jersey EHDI program since its establishment at the New Jersey Department of Health. She received her M.A. degree in Audiology from the University of Maryland; her B.A. degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Montclair State College (now Montclair State University) and completed a Certificate Program in American Sign Language Studies at Union County College where she later served as an Adjunct Faculty Instructor. Miss Schneider is a licensed audiologist and hearing aid dispenser in New Jersey and received a gubernatorial appointment to serve on the Audiology and Speech Language Pathology Advisory Committee at the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (2004 to the present). Prior to joining NJ EHDI, Miss Schneider was the Senior Clinical Audiologist at The University Hospital - The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.