Dear Physician
I am writing on behalf of the Aspirus Women’s Health Birthing Center to make you aware of a
recent change in the way you receive newborn discharge information as a primary care provider
with access to the Aspirus EPIC Documentation system. The following outlines these changes
for your newborn patients:
 EPIC generated Newborn Discharge Data summary sheet accessed through EPIC “Chart
Summary,” selecting the newborn’s hospital encounter/contact.
 This form takes the place of the handwritten blue/green card previously sent to you by
inter-departmental mail.
 The new EPIC generated Newborn Discharge Data form includes all of the same data has
the old handwritten card including newborn hearing screening results but without the risk
of transcription error.
This change is a result of our work related to a national quality improvement initiative. Aspirus
Women’s Health Birthing Center is one of four Wisconsin birthing centers selected by the
Division of Public Health’s Wisconsin Sound Beginnings Program to participate in the National
Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality’s (NICHQ) National Hearing Screening Learning
Collaborative. Physicians, audiologists, public health departments, early intervention (Birth-3),
and families from eight states are working together to implement strategies to prevent loss to
follow up for infants who fail their newborn hearing screen. The quality improvement efforts of
this collaborative are consistent with the goals of the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing
Statement and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: to screen all newborns no later
than one month of age; for infants that do not pass screening to have a comprehensive audiologic
evaluation by 3 months of age; and for infants with a confirmed hearing loss to receive early
intervention by no later that 6 months of age.
The expected outcomes from the collaborative are for birth hospitals to screen 100% of
newborns, document the screening results, and communicate these results to the primary care
provider. Audiology providers are to complete the diagnostic hearing exam by three months of
age and when there is a confirmed hearing loss, work with the primary care provider to assure
referral to Birth-3 and other diagnostic and support services. All providers are to educate, inform,
and support the family. Two specific outcomes of this collaborative are that the infant’s
primary care provider:
1. Knows the newborn hearing screening result and it is documented in the chart at the time
of the first newborn visit to the clinic for all infants
2. Confirms that a referral has been made to an audiologist with an appointment time
established before one month of age for babies who do not pass the newborn hearing
screen.
As part of our efforts to meet these quality indicators, when an infant does not pass the newborn
screen Aspirus Women’s Health Birthing Center will:
 Call and send a letter to the primary care provider to notify them of the hearing screening
results
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Make an appointment for the infant’s audiology diagnostic visit with the parents and
document this information in the patient chart
Provide a letter to the family with the above information
Initiate a referral with parental consent to the Guide-by-Your-Side Program, a Wisconsin
family support system
Utilize WE-TRAC, the Wisconsin web-based newborn hearing data collection and
tracking system. This system allows the hospital to send referrals and assist in the follow
up process for infants who failed the hospital hearing screen.
Please access your newborn’s discharge information in EPIC and make note of and document the
hearing screening results at the infant’s first visit with you. Thank you for your support of our
joint efforts to assure that all Wisconsin children who are deaf or hard of hearing are identified
early and receive the services that they need. Feel free to contact me at 715-847-2929 or
annlin@aspirus.org with any questions or concerns.
Ann Line
RN Supervisor
Aspirus Women’s Health Birthing Center
715-847-2929 or annlin@aspirus.org