339375
Kentucky Improves Newborn Screening Program: Lessons Learned from a State Health Department
Monday, November 2, 2015
: 12:50 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.
Background: Since 2006, Kentucky’s state laboratory that administers the screening of newborn blood samples has had excellent in-person staff coverage during holidays and has provided 24/7 on-call coverage for hospitals. In 2013, the state further enhanced the laboratory administration through a collaborative project with the University of Kentucky. Objective: Describe the history of Kentucky’s newborn screening program, and highlight recent leadership efforts to improve it. Methods: Kentucky Department of Public Health Commissioner Stephanie Mayfield prioritized laboratory changes designed to improve the time between blood spot collection and testing. Results: Kentucky made significant laboratory changes to improve the time between blood collection and testing. Kentucky added Saturday laboratory coverage, and designated laboratory staff as “essential employees” to provide the coverage. The NBS program developed report cards that are mailed to submitters, both providers in healthcare facilities and nurse midwives who do home births, on a monthly basis. The report cards include average times from birth to blood sample collection and from sample collection to receipt at the laboratory. Provider s and facilities receive their own average times as well as the overall average times across the state. Conclusions: Kentucky Department for Public Health (KYDPH) has demonstrated leadership in improving the state’s newborn screening program.
Learning Areas:
Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Learning Objectives:
Identify the state agencies and organizations that play a role in state efforts in newborn screening quality improvement.
Describe specific examples of how Kentucky made improvements to the newborn screening system.
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As the Commissioner for the Kentucky Department for Public Health I am responsible for all activities, programs, and policies within the department. Prior to becoming the Commissioner, I served as the Director of the Kentucky Public Health Laboratory, providing me unique insight in to the complex systems that support the newborn screening program in Kentucky.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
