N.Y. Public Health Law § 2500-g: Newborn infant hearing screening

§ 2500-g. Newborn infant hearing screening. 1. The commissioner shall,

within the amounts appropriated therefor, and in consultation with

health care providers or their representatives, establish a program to

screen newborn infants for hearing problems. This program shall

incorporate consensus medical guidelines and protocols, reflecting the

most cost-effective methods for detecting hearing problems as early as

possible in an infant's life. The program shall provide for follow-up

screening including referrals for screening or care. Such program shall

also provide for the reimbursement of health care providers performing

such services under the program.

2. It shall be the duty of the administrative officer or other

designated person at each facility licensed pursuant to article

twenty-eight of this chapter caring for newborn infants, to either

administer a hearing screening upon each such newborn infant or, if the

facility is not reasonably able to screen a newborn infant prior to

discharge, provide a referral for the newborn infant to obtain the

service following discharge. Facilities subject to the provisions of

this section that administer a newborn infant hearing screening shall

report to the department in a manner and format required by the

commissioner:

(a) the results of each newborn infant hearing screening performed;

(b) instances in which a newborn infant hearing screening is not

performed on a newborn infant before such infant is discharged from the

facility; and

(c) such other information or data as may be required by the

commissioner pursuant to regulation to fulfill the purposes of this

section.

3. Any person who performs a newborn infant hearing screening, meaning

a hearing screening performed upon a newborn infant, other than a

hearing screening administered by a facility pursuant to subdivision two

of this section, or upon a child under six months of age, shall report

to the department, in a manner and format required by the commissioner

pursuant to regulation:

(a) the results of each newborn infant hearing screening performed;

and

(b) such other information or data as may be required by the

commissioner to fulfill the purposes of this section.

4. The department shall collect and maintain the newborn infant

hearing results and information provided pursuant to subdivisions two

and three of this section in a statewide information system developed by

the department for such purpose.

5. The department shall provide access to newborn infant hearing

screening results and other information or data as determined by the

department to the following persons or entities for the following

purposes:

(a) The commissioner of health for the purposes of outreach, quality

improvement and accountability, research, and epidemiological studies

and disease control;

(b) The commissioner of health and mental hygiene for the city of New

York and local health departments for purposes of outreach, quality

improvement and accountability, research, epidemiological studies and

disease control;

(c) Health care professionals licensed under title eight of the

education law and their designees for the purposes of determining, with

respect to newborn infants or children under their care, whether a

newborn infant hearing screening was performed, whether a re-screening

or other follow-up is necessary, to enter newborn infant hearing

screening results and data, and for treatment purposes;

(d) A facility licensed under article twenty-eight of this chapter

that administers a newborn infant hearing screening for the purposes of

entering newborn infant hearing screening results and data into the

statewide information system and determining whether a screening,

re-screening or other follow-up is necessary;

(e) Third party payers as defined in paragraph (f) of subdivision two

of section twenty-one hundred sixty-eight of this chapter for the

purposes of quality assurance, accountability and outreach relating to

enrollees covered by the third party payer; and

(f) A commissioner of a local social services district with regard to

newborn infants or children in his or her legal custody.

6. All newborn hearing screening results and other information or data

maintained by the department shall be confidential and shall not be

disclosed except as provided for in this section. The parent or guardian

of a newborn infant or child for whom a newborn infant hearing screening

was performed may obtain a copy of the newborn infant hearing screening

results from:

(a) The facility that administered the newborn infant hearing

screening;

(b) The person who performed the screening, if the screening was not

administered at a facility subject to the provisions of this section; or

(c) The statewide information system that maintains the results by

requesting the record pursuant to procedures established by the

commissioner in regulation.