§ 2500-G — Newborn infant hearing screening

§ 2500-g. Newborn infant hearing screening. 1. The commissioner shall,\nwithin the amounts appropriated therefor, and in consultation with\nhealth care providers or their representatives, establish a program to\nscreen newborn infants for hearing problems. This program shall\nincorporate consensus medical guidelines and protocols, reflecting the\nmost cost-effective methods for detecting hearing problems as early as\npossible in an infant's life. The program shall provide for follow-up\nscreening including referrals for screening or care. Such program shall\nalso provide for the reimbursement of health care providers performing\nsuch services under the program.\n 2. It shall be the duty of the administrative officer or other\ndesignated person at each facility licensed pursuant to article\ntwenty-eight of this chapter caring for newborn infants, to either\nadminister a hearing screening upon each such newborn infant or, if the\nfacility is not reasonably able to screen a newborn infant prior to\ndischarge, provide a referral for the newborn infant to obtain the\nservice following discharge. Facilities subject to the provisions of\nthis section that administer a newborn infant hearing screening shall\nreport to the department in a manner and format required by the\ncommissioner:\n (a) the results of each newborn infant hearing screening performed;\n (b) instances in which a newborn infant hearing screening is not\nperformed on a newborn infant before such infant is discharged from the\nfacility; and\n (c) such other information or data as may be required by the\ncommissioner pursuant to regulation to fulfill the purposes of this\nsection.\n 3. Any person who performs a newborn infant hearing screening, meaning\na hearing screening performed upon a newborn infant, other than a\nhearing screening administered by a facility pursuant to subdivision two\nof this section, or upon a child under six months of age, shall report\nto the department, in a manner and format required by the commissioner\npursuant to regulation:\n (a) the results of each newborn infant hearing screening performed;\nand\n (b) such other information or data as may be required by the\ncommissioner to fulfill the purposes of this section.\n 4. The department shall collect and maintain the newborn infant\nhearing results and information provided pursuant to subdivisions two\nand three of this section in a statewide information system developed by\nthe department for such purpose.\n 5. The department shall provide access to newborn infant hearing\nscreening results and other information or data as determined by the\ndepartment to the following persons or entities for the following\npurposes:\n (a) The commissioner of health for the purposes of outreach, quality\nimprovement and accountability, research, and epidemiological studies\nand disease control;\n (b) The commissioner of health and mental hygiene for the city of New\nYork and local health departments for purposes of outreach, quality\nimprovement and accountability, research, epidemiological studies and\ndisease control;\n (c) Health care professionals licensed under title eight of the\neducation law and their designees for the purposes of determining, with\nrespect to newborn infants or children under their care, whether a\nnewborn infant hearing screening was performed, whether a re-screening\nor other follow-up is necessary, to enter newborn infant hearing\nscreening results and data, and for treatment purposes;\n (d) A facility licensed under article twenty-eight of this chapter\nthat administers a newborn infant hearing screening for the purposes of\nentering newborn infant hearing screening results and data into the\nstatewide information system and determining whether a screening,\nre-screening or other follow-up is necessary;\n (e) Third party payers as defined in paragraph (f) of subdivision two\nof section twenty-one hundred sixty-eight of this chapter for the\npurposes of quality assurance, accountability and outreach relating to\nenrollees covered by the third party payer; and\n (f) A commissioner of a local social services district with regard to\nnewborn infants or children in his or her legal custody.\n 6. All newborn hearing screening results and other information or data\nmaintained by the department shall be confidential and shall not be\ndisclosed except as provided for in this section. The parent or guardian\nof a newborn infant or child for whom a newborn infant hearing screening\nwas performed may obtain a copy of the newborn infant hearing screening\nresults from:\n (a) The facility that administered the newborn infant hearing\nscreening;\n (b) The person who performed the screening, if the screening was not\nadministered at a facility subject to the provisions of this section; or\n (c) The statewide information system that maintains the results by\nrequesting the record pursuant to procedures established by the\ncommissioner in regulation.\n