IDPH Adopts Rules for Mandatory Hearing Testing for Newborns
April 16, 2019
MEMORANDUM
IDPH Adopts Rules for Mandatory Hearing Testing for Newborns
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) adopted rules (March 29 Illinois Register pages 3889-3944) to implement PA 99-0834, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act. The adopted rules add requirements to Section 250.1830 – General Requirements for All Obstetric Departments. Under these requirements, hospitals must:
- Conduct bilateral hearing screening of each newborn infant prior to discharge unless medically contraindicated or the infant is transferred to another hospital before the hearing screening can be completed;
- Report the results of the hearing screening to IDPH within seven days after screening; and
- Refer the parents or guardians to a healthcare practitioner for follow-up care when there are no screening results or the infant does not pass the hearing screening in both ears at the same time. That referral, including the practitioner that the patient is being referred to, must be documented and reported to IDPH.
For those infants born outside a hospital, the newborn’s primary care provider is required to refer the patient to a hospital for the screening within 30 days after birth unless a different time period is medically indicated.
If you have any other questions, please contact IHA.