2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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4/15/2013  |   11:05 AM - 12:05 AM   |  Systematic Reviews: How to initiate and why they work   |  Solana C   |  9

Systematic Reviews: How to initiate and why they work

New Hampshire does not have legislation requiring newborn hearing screening but presently 97% of the babies born in NH are screened. The refer rate within our state is approximately 2% which is well within JCIH 2007 recommendations. These measures do suggest a level of success for the NH EHDI program but there were areas such as data entry, referral process, and rescreen rate which have been persistently problematic. For several years these concerns were addressed via face to face meetings with hospital staff responsible for the hearing screening programs. Although the staff were welcoming and open to the feedback provided, no measurable improvement occurred. With time, it became apparent that personal meetings were not achieving our quality improvement goals and a data driven systematic review process was initiated. The first step in initiating the review process was requiring all of our birth hospitals to submit written protocols for their screening program. This phase of the review process took several months but the end product was that each hospital had written policies and procedures which were in compliance with JCIH guidelines. The second step was to provide annual progress reports to each hospital which compared the hospital to target measures. If targets were not met, action plans were included and a 6 month follow-up report was provided. All of these reports were generated from data obtained from our web-based system and reports were shared with hospital administrators as well as the screening staff. The benefits of a systematic review process were quickly realized. During the presentation we will provide detailed information about how states might utilize a similar model of improvement. We will share examples of all the materials we developed for our hospital newborn hearing screening reviews including a screening protocol guide, performance measures, annual reports and action plans.

  • The learner will be able to describe how to use data for quality improvement
  • The learner will be able to apply the principles of systematic reviews in their state programs
  • The learner will be able to analyze the potential benefits of systematic reviews

Presentation:
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Presenters/Authors

Ruth Fox (Author), NH EHDI, rfox@dhhs.state.nh.us;
Ruth Fox, BS, MS has been the Coordinator of the New Hampshire EHDI Program since it began in 2000. She has a Master’s degree in Parent-Child Nursing, and she has worked with infants, children, and their families in a variety of hospital and community settings throughout her career.


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Dawn Zimmerman (Author), NH EHDI, earsnh@myfairpoint.net;
Dawn Zimmerman, MSP, CCC-SLP is the Family Advocate for the New Hampshire EHDI Program, assisting families whose infants refer on newborn hearing screens. She also practices as a speech-language pathologist at HEAR in New Hampshire and provides professional consultation and training in language development for children with cochlear implants and hearing aids.


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Mary Jane Sullivan (POC,Primary Presenter,Author), NH EHDI, mjs28@unh.edu;
Mary Jane Sullivan Au.D. CCC-A, has been involved in various aspects of clinical audiology for 25+ yrs. Much of her experience has had a pediatric focus specifically in the area of early identification of hearing loss. Presently, she is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of New Hampshire. She has teaching as well as clinical responsibilities at UNH. Dr. Sullivan is also the consulting audiologist for the NH Bureau of Maternal and Child Health EHDI program. In this capacity, she has been involved in establishing universal newborn hearing screening in NH birthing hospitals, developing follow-up protocols for infants who refer on the newborn hearing screening and working with statewide diagnostic centers.


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