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ABSTRACT INFORMATION
Title: 'An Evaluation of a State Early Hearing and Intervention (EHDI) Tracking System' Track: 8-Program Evaluation and Quality Assurance Audience: Primary Audience: State Health Department Secondary Audience: Hospital/Birthing Center< Tertiary Audeince: Early Intervention Provider Keyword(s): Evaluation, TEHDI, Tracking System Learning Objectives: *Understand the importance of information system evaluation for state EHDI program *Identify key steps in building evaluation model and creating evaluation plan for state EHDI tracking system Abstract: Public health surveillance and tracking systems, such as those being used by state EHDI programs to capture information related to infant hearing screening and follow-up, are important tools in ensuring infants receive recommended services. Periodically evaluating these systems can help a program to assess the quality of the information being collected and the effectiveness of the system in meeting program objectives, both of which are key to supporting public health decision making. As part of this effort, members of the CDC EHDI team worked closely with the Texas EHDI program (TEHDI) to conduct a review and evaluation of the current TEHDI tracking system. This project also served as the initial step for CDC EHDI in developing a standard evaluation framework that can be used in future state EHDI evaluation activities. In this presentation, we will discuss the process for creating the evaluation plan based on an evaluation model that we developed for state EHDI tracking systems. In addition, we will discuss development of the metrics that were used to assess the TEHDI system’s functionality, efficiency, and usability. As part of the TEHDI evaluation, the program developed an online survey that included questions about user experience with reporting hearing screening and follow-up data using the TEHDI tracking system. Results indicated a link between proper use of the TEHDI tracking system and improvement for hearing screeners, audiologists, and other EHDI-related professionals in meeting their responsibilities. The survey also identified a few areas within the TEHDI system that may benefit from modification. We anticipate that this information will be helpful to states wishing to conduct similar evaluation activities. Presentation(s): Not Available Handouts: Not Available
SPEAKER INFORMATION
PRESENTER(S): Xidong Deng - CDC      Credentials: PhD       Xidong Deng is a public informatics fellow at the EHDI team, National Centers for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Engineering. Her interest in public health informatics include data integration, data standard, EHR, and system evaluation. Mary Gwyn Allen - Texas State Department of Health Services      Credentials: D. Min, MA       Prior to joining the Texas EHDI program as the TEHDI Coordinator, Mary Gwyn Allen, M.A., served as the Project Manager for the Infant Hearing Program (AR EHDI) at the Arkansas Department of Health. She was formerly the Follow-up Consultant for the Infant Hearing Program and a Local Health Unit Administrator for the Department of Health. Prior to this, Ms. Allen was a faculty member in the Psychology Department of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Ouachita College. She has experience in psychology, research, project and grants management, and social work. She has written several publications and her biography has appeared in two volumes of Who’s Who of American Teachers.   AUTHOR(S): Macus Gaffney - CDC       BIO: Marcus Gaffney is a health scientist with the EHDI team, national centers for birth defects and developmental disabilities, centers for disease control and prevention Kimberly Folse - Texas State Department of Health Services       BIO: Kimberly Folse is the Quality Assurance Specialist at the Newborn Screening Branch, Texas Department of State Health Services Craig Mason - University of Maine      Credentials: Ph.D       BIO: Craig Mason is the associate professor at university of Maine, and he is a consultant of the EHDI team, Centers for Disease control and Prevention