EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021
(Virtually the same conference, without elevators, airplane tickets, or hotel room keys)
Successful Strategies for Reviving the EHDI-PALS Directory of Pediatric Audiology Facility Listings
The mission of the EHDI-PALS, Early Hearing Detection & Intervention - Pediatric Audiology Links to Services program is to provide an online searchable national directory to assist families, healthcare professionals and state public health organizations identify pediatric audiology expertise in their communities for children ages birth to five. Audiologists enroll by completing a detailed online facility survey. As part of ongoing maintenance, an annual update and affirmation of information is required by the facility in order to be displayed in the directory as current.
When NCHAM took the lead in the management of the EHDI-PALS program in 2019, only 25% of the facility listings in the directory were updated. The majority had not been updated since first enrolling in 2012, despite email reminders to the designated audiologist alerting them to update their facility listing. There are a number of challenges and contributing factors that can impact whether or not a facility gets updated, such as; staff turnover, changes in business ownership, email address changes, changes in clinic status, etc.
Improving the integrity of the facility data has been a high priority due to the importance of assuring accuracy in parent searches. Through trial and error, a number of strategies have been successful, for example, working in collaboration with EHDI State Coordinators to target audiologists not currently enrolled and obtain updated contact information for outdated facilities.
These findings will help to drive future efforts in maintaining a high level of integrity in the facilities listings. This presentation will demonstrate approaches and methods found to be successful and an analysis of data from participating states.
- Discuss the importance of maintaining a high level of integrity in the accuracy of facility information
- Identify methods for gaining buy-in and compliance from pediatric audiologists
- •Demonstrate the benefit of collaborating with EHDI Coordinators to maintain the integrity of the facility listings
Poster:
23278_13618RandiWinston-Gerson.pdf
Poster Video:
https://youtu.be/XsEG56n0buI
Presenter: Randi Winston-Gerson
Randi consults on a variety of EHDI related projects with the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM). She maintains her role as program manager for NCHAM’s Newborn Hearing Screening Training Curriculum (NHSTC), the EHDI-PALS Directory and the Newborn Hearing Screening Virtual Site Visit (VSV) Program. She has co-authored several research articles involving newborn and early childhood screening. From 1998– 2015 she maintained the role of consulting audiologist for The EAR Foundation of Arizona and Arizona's EHDI Program which included the implementation of newborn hearing and early childhood screening programs. The emphasis of her work included program quality, systems development, and best practices. During that time she served on NCHAM’s Technical Assistance Network, assisting states in Region X with their EHDI program development efforts. From 2015-2018 she served as Hearing Screening Program Manager at Audiology Systems. She continues to provide consultation to Arizona hospitals in need of technical support and program improvement. Randi holds doctorate of audiology, is state licensed in Arizona and a member of AAA and ASHA. She serves as co-director of the Arizona Special Olympics Healthy Hearing Program.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Emilee is a second year Audiology doctoral student at Utah State University. She was inspired to pursue her education in Audiology after going on an ASL mission in the Portland area during which she learned about the importance of access to communication and Early Hearing detection and intervention. She hopes to be able to make a valuable contribution to the field in her future career. In her free time, Emilee enjoys spending time outside, crafting, and going on walks with her husband. She dreams of one day visiting all the National Parks and to see her grandparent’s hometowns in Germany.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -