Public Act 14 of 1987 expanded the program, designated a central laboratory, and added comprehensive follow-up medical management centers. The HDP was established in 1978 as part of the National Genetic Diseases Act. Program implementation is incremental. The EHDI program database shares a common database with newborn metabolic screening. The newborn hearing screen report form is included in the blood specimen card used by hospitals.
Demographic information is entered into the database manually by coders in the state laboratory.
This information is then available electronically to the EHDI program where the hearing screen results, diagnostic information, intervention and dates of service are entered. During the 5 year project period, data linkages will be used to ensure development of a timely and comprehensive child health profile for Michigan children. The child health profile is a Michigan Department of Community Health initiative. In the first year of the project, activities will focus on preparing newborn screening and EHDI database for integration. In subsequent years, the programming will be interfaced with Oracle software as part of the MDCH project called Vital Vision.