Newborn Screening FAQs for Providers

Find information for physicians, nurses, midwives, and other newborn screening submitters with comprehensive resources, contact information for the Missouri Newborn Screening Program and the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory, answers to frequently asked questions, best practice guidelines, and more.

Newborn Screening Frequently Asked Questions for Health Care Providers

How can I order literature free of charge?

Use the free resources page to download digital, PDF copies or order printed Newborn Screening - Protect your Newborn (#14) booklets for your facility.

Where can I learn more about a disorder that Missouri screens for?

Baby’s First Test

I am looking for an affordable, visual resource to be hung near collection areas that outlines best practice newborn screening collection, examples of poor-quality specimens, and tips and tricks for my staff. Do you have a resource for this?

The Specimen Collection and Specimen Quality for Newborn Screening Quick Guide is a quick guide providing easy-to-follow instructions for blood collection techniques used in newborn screening. Instructions are also illustrated for your convenience. Discover the best methods for collecting a good-quality specimen and how to identify poor-quality specimens effectively.

I am looking for a manual that outlines best practices for newborn screening, including specimen collection, testing, handling/transport, and quality specimen collection, so my facility can update its policies. Do you have a resource for this?

Dried Blood Spot Specimen Collection for Newborn Screening helps laboratories optimize dried blood spot specimen collection for newborn screening. This latest edition of NBS01 provides an overview of proper techniques for specimen collection, testing, handling and transport, ensuring that quality specimens are collected for newborn screening analysis.

I work in a neonatal intensive care unit and would like a manual that provides best practice protocols for screening critically ill newborns, including expert advice on screening procedures related to sick newborns. Do you have a resource for this?

Newborn Screening for Preterm, Low Birth Weight, and Sick Newborns provides best practices for screening critically ill newborns. This guide offers expert advice on screening procedures for sick newborns, including hearing loss, low birth weight, critical congenital heart defects, and diseases detectable through dried blood spot screening.

Where can I find more information regarding poor-quality blood spot specimens?

The Missouri State Public Health Laboratory (MSPHL) provides a page with more information on poor-quality blood spot specimens for your convenience.

Where can I get more information on specimen delivery and couriers, pickup sites, or local public health agencies (LPHA) that can transport specimens?

The MSPHL provides a page with more information on specimen delivery and couriers for your convenience.

I am a health care provider. Who should I contact regarding portal access questions for reviewing newborn blood spot screening results?

Please contact the MSPHL for test results and portal access.

Who can I contact about newborn screening kits and order forms?

Please contact the MSPHL Fiscal Unit.

Are my patients eligible for reduced-rate newborn screening collection forms?

For families with no insurance coverage due to financial limitations or religious beliefs, reduced-rate blood spot collection forms may be available. Please contact the MSPHL Fiscal Unit for more information.

I am a health care provider, and my patient needs a newborn screen, but we do not collect them in my clinic. What are my options?

You may collaborate with an outpatient laboratory, perhaps one you use for other lab collections you order for a newborn.

Some local public health agencies collect newborn screens. Please confirm with the individual agency that they provide these services before sending families to the site.

A third option is to coordinate the newborn screen collection with a birth hospital. This will likely require you to serve as a liaison between the family and the birth hospital and to ensure an order is provided.

Newborn Collection Form Guide

Find instructions for completing Missouri's newborn blood spot collection form.

Access here

Making a Difference Through Newborn Screening: Blood Collection on Filter Paper

This video demonstrates proper techniques for collecting blood spots on filter paper, in accordance with the best-practice recommendations outlined in the 2022 update of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) NBS01 manual.

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Newborn Screening Frequently Asked Questions for Health Care Providers

Making a Difference Through Newborn Screening: Blood Collection on Filter Paper