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ABSTRACT INFORMATION
Title: 'Engaging the Medical Home in Connecting Babies with Hearing Loss to Early Intervention, Family Support and Specialty Services ' Track: 5-Follow-up, Tracking, and Data Management Keyword(s): medical home, early intervention, follow up Learning Objectives: 1. work with key state stakeholders to engage child health providers in connecting babies with hearing loss to follow up services 2. help inform child health providers about the array of follow up services needed by/available to families of babies with hearing loss 3. connect families of babies with hearing loss to family support services through their medical home Abstract: The pediatric medical home plays a critical role in the system of care for infants with hearing loss. Yet, research consistently shows that pediatric primary care providers are not prepared to address the needs of infants with this low-incidence condition. In 2010 Connecticut’s EHDI program embarked on an initiative to improve connection of infants to services after audiological assessment following referral from newborn hearing screening showed significant hearing loss. Based on work done in Minnesota, the CT EHDI program retained the services of two pediatricians with expertise in hearing loss to work with pediatric primary care providers to facilitate linkage to early intervention, medical specialty and family support services. EHDI pediatricians make personal phone calls to the medical homes of infants who do not pass hospital newborn hearing screening and also receive hearing loss diagnoses on follow up testing. This physician to physician support program provides education, consultation, and guidance to primary care providers caring for infants with hearing loss. It is also providing a rich descriptive data base on primary care providers’ challenges in serving as the medical home for children with hearing loss. Phone calls for infants with hearing loss who were born in 2010 and not enrolled in Early Intervention show that medical homes 1) know that the infant for whom the call is initiated has a diagnosed hearing loss and 2) can easily retrieve information relevant to the diagnosed loss (newborn hospital screening results, audiology report, etc.). However, the most significant lapse in connection of families to services appears to result from the medical home believing that another provider in the system (otolaryngologist, audiologist) would handle the referrals. In addition medical home providers are not aware of family support opportunities in the state. This session will discuss the implications of these findings for EHDI system building. Presentation: This presentation has not yet been uploaded or the speaker has opted not to make the presentation available online. Handouts: Handout is not Available
SPEAKER INFORMATION
PRESENTER(S): Amy Mirizzi - Connecticut Department of Public Health      Credentials: MPH, CPH       Amy Mirizzi has served as the Connecticut EHDI Coordinator since 2008. She was hired by the Connecticut Department of Public Health in 2005 to oversee EHDI tracking and surveillance. She is a member and past chair of the CT EHDI Task Force, a member of the CT Department of Rehabilitation Services, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Advisory Board, and a member of the Directors of Speech and Hearing Programs in State Health and Welfare Agencies. Ms. Mirizzi is responsible for overall program functions, policy development, technical support to hospitals and diagnostic testing centers, consultation on database design and development, provider and family education and outreach, and ongoing program evaluation. Brenda Balch - Private Practice Pediatrician      Credentials: Board certified pediatrician, CT AAP Chapter Champion for EHDI, Member EHDI Advisory Board      Other Affiliations: Connecticut Children's Medical Center clinical staff       Dr. Balch serves as the CT AAP EHDI Chapter Champion. In this role she works with the state EHDI program and child health providers across Connecticut to support the goals of early detection and intervention. Dr. Balch also is very active in efforts to provide relief to children in Haiti as well as other medical missions. Ann Gionet - CT Department of Public Health      Credentials: Bachelor of Business Administration, Western CT State University, Danbury, CT      Other Affiliations: Connecticut Family Advocate for CYSHCN       Ann Gionet Health Program Associate, Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Program, Connecticut Department of Public Health. Staff member of the CYSHCN program for fifteen-years, knowledgeable about all aspects of program, participate in program design and execution through four major program enhancements. Responsible for integrating family/consumer involvement into the CYSHCN and Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs and policies including involvement of consumers in program planning and execution, engage families through mentoring and culturally appropriate supports, educate staff to engage consumer participation, support families in the professional setting, provide family/professional partnership presentations/workshops. Awarded federal funding for CT family/consumers to attend the Association of Maternal Child Health Program (AMCHP) National Meeting in Washington DC and attend as a Family Mentor.   AUTHOR(S): Ann Gionet - CT Department of Public Health      Credentials: Bachelor of Business Administration, Western CT State University, Danbury, CT      Other Affiliations: Connecticut Family Advocate for CYSHCN       BIO: Ann Gionet Health Program Associate, Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Program, Connecticut Department of Public Health. Staff member of the CYSHCN program for fifteen-years, knowledgeable about all aspects of program, participate in program design and execution through four major program enhancements. Responsible for integrating family/consumer involvement into the CYSHCN and Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs and policies including involvement of consumers in program planning and execution, engage families through mentoring and culturally appropriate supports, educate staff to engage consumer participation, support families in the professional setting, provide family/professional partnership presentations/workshops. Awarded federal funding for CT family/consumers to attend the Association of Maternal Child Health Program (AMCHP) National Meeting in Washington DC and attend as a Family Mentor.