Last Modified: 09/01/2023
Quality Improvement in EHDI Programs
Since April 2006, the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau has provided support for all state-based Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs to participate in Learning Collaboratives designed to improve follow-up practices and documentation after newborn hearing screening by implementing quality improvement (QI) strategies and principles. Although funding for the Learning Collaboratives has ended, NCHAM is assisting EHDI programs in their continued implementation of QI principles by conducting a QI needs assessment, providing ongoing technical assistance and support, and connecting EHDI program staff with similar interests to work together in implementing QI strategies.
Following QI methodology, EHDI program staff review data to identify where there are gaps in follow-up and documentation. The teams then identify change strategies to help fill those gaps. Depending on where the gaps lie, EHDI programs will continuously engage stakeholder groups (e.g., pediatricians, audiologists, parent groups) over the next three years to develop change strategies that will use an iterative QI process to reduce loss to follow-up and loss to documentation from newborn hearing screening and intervention programs.
