911 KAR 1:085. Newborn hearing screening equipment grant award.

911 KAR 1:085. Newborn hearing screening equipment grant award.

RELATES TO: KRS 194A.030(7), 200.460-200.499, 211.647, 216.2970

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 194A.030(7), 194A.050(1), 216.2970(1)

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 211.647 authorizes the Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs to conduct necessary activities to identify infants at risk for hearing loss. In order to assist hospitals in complying with the provisions of KRS 216.2970, the Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs shall provide necessary funding for the hospitals to obtain the equipment needed. This administrative regulation establishes the eligibility criteria, application process, services, reporting requirements, and appeal rights for hospitals applying to receive funding for newborn auditory screening equipment.

Section 1. Definitions. (1) "Audiologist" means a person licensed by the Commonwealth to provide audiological services.

(2) "Auditory brainstem response" or "ABR" means an objective electrophysiologic measurement of the brainstem's response to the ear when stimulated with a click sound or tone burst.

(3) "Automated auditory brainstem response" or "AABR" means an automatic ABR resulting in a pass/refer outcome.

(4) "Kentucky Infants’ Sound Start Hearing Screening Report" means an auditory screening report used for reporting pass or refer and "at risk" information to CCSHCN.

(5) "Commission" or "CCSHCN" means the Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs.

(6) "Discharge" means a release from a hospital to the biological parent, stepparent, adoptive parent, legal guardian, or other legal custodian of a child.

(7) "Equipment" means an AABR, ABR or OAE unit used for a newborn hearing screening in a hospital prior to discharge.

(8) "Hospital" means a hospital in Kentucky with forty (40) or more births a year.

(9) "Kentucky Infants' Sound Start" or "KISS" means a program operated by CCSHCN for the purpose of tracking an infant referred from a hospital-based UNHS program through the use of information about the infant's newborn hearing screening to ensure timely, appropriate and complete services through referral, diagnostic and intervention services.

(10) "Manufacturer" means a company that produces and markets ABR, AABR or OAE equipment.

(11) "Newborn" means an infant in the hospital prior to his initial discharge.

(12) "Otoacoustic emissions" or "OAE" means an objective physiological test method for measuring responses elicited directly from the cochlea.

(13) "Physiological screening" means a testing of a newborn using AABR, ABR or OAE equipment.

(14) "Universal newborn hearing screening" or "UNHS" means a hospital-based physiologic hearing screening program that tests at least ninety (90) percent of newborns prior to discharge.

Section 2. Hospital Eligibility Criteria. In order to be eligible for Newborn Hearing Screening Equipment Grant Funds, a hospital located in Kentucky shall be:

(1) The location of at least forty (40) or more births annually; and

(2) A hospital lacking hearing screening equipment for initiation of a UNHS program; or

(3) A hospital in need of hearing screening equipment for expansion of an existing UNHS program.

Section 3. Application Process. (1) In order to be eligible for newborn hearing screening equipment grant funds, a hospital shall provide to CCSHCN:

(a) A completed grant application form with supporting documentation, which shall include:

1. A narrative providing justification for the funding request;

2. Proof of completion of the May 2000 survey previously provided by the UNHS-CCSHCN by inclusion of:

a. The survey; or

b. A letter from UNHS-CCSHCN indicating their receipt of the survey;

(b) A manufacturer or vendor equipment price quote for the requested equipment;

(d) The name of the hospital UNHS contact;

(e) Letters of support, including a letter from:

1. The local or regional audiologist;

2. The hospital’s chief executive office or president;

3. The hearing screening coordinator;

4. An attending primary care provider from the respective hospital; and

5. The community’s point of entry staff person with Kentucky’s Early Intervention network system established pursuant to 908 KAR 2:210.

(2) A completed application with supporting documentation shall be received by September 15, 2000 at 4:30 p.m. EST at the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program, C/O Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs, 982 Eastern Parkway, Louisville, Kentucky 40217. A faxed application shall not be considered.

(3) An incomplete application or one (1) not completed in accordance with provided instructions may not be considered for funding.

Section 4. Participation Requirements. A hospital meeting the criteria in Sections 2 and 3 of this administrative regulation shall be awarded funding if the following provisions are met:

(1) Equipment shall be purchased within thirty (30) days of receipt of funding;

(2) Hospital hearing screening personnel shall receive training within thirty (30) days of receipt of funding and annual training from that point on;

(3) Screenings shall begin within sixty (60) days of receipt of the funding;

(4) The hospital shall provide documentation that a screening shall be completed on at least ninety (90) percent of newborns in the hospital prior to their discharge;

(5) The hospital shall demonstrate its ability to:

(a) Report completed screenings by June 30 of each year; and

(b) Collaborate with UNHS-CCSHCN in program development or expansion, and implementation;

(6) A hospital not attaining at least a ninety (90) percent newborn screening rate as evidenced by quarterly statistics provided to the UNHS-CCSHCN database shall receive technical assistance from CCSHCN in order to assist the hospital in attaining the ninety (90) percent rate; and

(7) Reporting requirements established in Section 6 shall be met.

Section 5. Grant Award. (1) Grants shall be ranked based on review of the application by selected CCSHCN employees and the CCSHCN Board of Commissioners.

(2) Award amounts shall be determined by rank order and funding available.

(3) No later than September 29, 2000:

(a) Each successful applicant shall be notified by mail; and

(b) An applicant not awarded a grant shall be notified in writing, by certified mail, return receipt requested.

(4) A contract shall be awarded in accordance with KRS Chapter 45A.

(5) Grant awards shall range from $2,000 to $10,000.

(6) A hospital awarded a grant shall match the grant amount on at least a dollar-for-dollar basis.

Section 6. Reporting Requirements. (1) A hospital shall report information to UNHS-CCSHCN pursuant to KRS 211.647.

(2) Information to be reported to UNHS-CCSHCN for a new birth who has failed the hearing test shall include the newborn’s:

(a) Last name;

(b) First name;

(d) Date of birth;

(e) Gender;

(f) Mother’s last name;

(g) Mother’s first name;

(h) Middle initial;

(i) Mother’s maiden name;

(j) Mother’s Social Security number.

(k) Address where the child shall be residing after discharge;

(l) Birth hospital’s name;

(m) Tester’s last name;

(n) Tester’s first name;

(o) Tester’s middle initial;

(p) Date of testing; and

(q) Test results.

(3) Information to be reported to UNHS-CCSHCN for a new birth who has passed the physiological and risk-factor hearing test shall not include identifying information, but shall include the:

(a) Date the test was administered;

(b) Test results;

(d) Name of the hospital where the test was administered.

(4) Reporting shall be completed on a KISS Hearing Screening Report form.

(5) A hospital unable to provide a physiological screening for more than forty-eight (48) hours because of an equipment malfunction shall contact UNHS-CCSHCN by phone or fax as soon as staff are aware of the delay.

(6) Each equipment purchase shall be registered with UNHS-CCSHCN within thirty (30) days of purchase.

(7) A hospital shall submit to UNHS-CCSHCN, proof that the equipment is calibrated to the manufacturer’s specifications.

(8) Equipment not working shall be reported immediately to the manufacturer.

Section 7. Appeal Rights. (1) If a hospital which has not received a grant wishes to appeal, within thirty (30) days of denial of the grant, the applicant shall notify CCSHCN of an administrative hearing.

(2) Notice of an administrative hearing shall be provided to the hospital in accordance with KRS 13B.050.

(3) The administrative hearing process shall be conducted in accordance with KRS 13B.080 through 13B.160.

Section 8. Incorporation by Reference. (1) The following material is incorporated by reference:

(a) Universal Newborn Hearing Screening - Hospital Survey, 2000 edition, Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs;

(b) Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Report, 2000 edition, Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs; and

(2) This material may be inspected, copied, or obtained, subject to applicable copyright law, at the Department for Public Health, first floor, Health Services Building, 275 East Main Street, Frankfort, Kentucky 40621, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (27 Ky.R. 2013; Am. 2469; eff. 3-6-2001; recodified from 902 KAR 4:085, 8-10-2001.)