2023 New York Laws › PBH - Public Health › Article 25 - Maternal and Child Health › Title 1 - General Provisions › 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.