Primary Care Providers/Health Professionals

Primary Care Providers

A primary care provider (PCP) is the medical home for a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing. The PCP guides the family through the 1-3-6 plan by:

  • Referring a newborn who did not pass the newborn hearing screening to an audiologist for diagnostic evaluation before three months of age
  • Ensuring the diagnostic evaluation took place and stressing the importance of timely follow-up.

The PCP, in coordination with the audiologist, should refer a baby with a diagnosed hearing loss to appropriate, timely intervention services and to other medical specialists for problems related to hearing loss. These include an otolaryngologist, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, and a geneticist.

The number of babies who do not pass the hearing screening and then do not receive follow up audiologic testing is high. It is essential that the PCP guide the family of a baby who does not pass the newborn hearing screening to an audiologist.

If the PCP rescreens an infant in the office, results must be reported to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Use the Guidelines and Forms to report results.

The following links offer guidance to PCPs:

Audiologists

Audiologists are responsible for reporting results of rescreening and diagnostic testing to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) through the Missouri Health Strategic Architectures and Information Cooperative (MOHSAIC) system. See Guidelines and Forms.

It is essential that audiologists guide parents through the next steps when a hearing loss is identified.

Hospital Screening Programs

The following overview for hospital hearing screening programs is based on Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ (DHSS) Missouri Newborn Hearing Screening Program (MNHSP) “Guidelines for Hospital-based Newborn Hearing Screening Programs” and the Missouri Code of State Regulations (CSR), Division 40, Chapter 9, Rules of the Department of Health and Senior Services, Division of Maternal, Child and Family Health, Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program.

Hospitals should designate a staff member to act as the hospital newborn hearing screening program manager (PM).  The PM is responsible for reviewing and updating policies and procedures, communicating with the DHSS, reviewing hospital statistics on a monthly basis, and training screening staff.

Hospitals should develop written policies and procedures for the newborn hearing screening program. 

It is the responsibility of the hospital program manager to track all babies who do not pass their initial hearing screening to make sure they receive audiological follow-up. The program manager should contact the parent and the baby’s primary care physician if the follow-up rescreening appointment is not kept. If a second rescreening appointment is not kept, it is the responsibility of the hospital to notify DHSS and the primary care physician.