Improving the Efficiency of Newborn Screening from Collection to Test Results

Newborn screening (NBS) programs require timely interaction of clinical care and public health systems to avoid delays in treatment, serious preventable complications and death. Investigators from the University of Michigan seek to gather evidence to inform policy decisions on state NBS programs to achieve cost effective and efficient NBS specimen collection, transport and processing. Obtaining timely NBS test results requires effective process implementation within and interaction between hospitals, transport systems and public health laboratories. This project will deploy a multidisciplinary team of public health practitioners and newborn screening programmatic staff, as well as researchers in health services, quality improvement and operations management, to help fill the data gaps on timeliness of NBS test results. The study will: 1) use innovative dynamic simulation modeling techniques to systematically identify potential process improvement strategies for reducing time from collection to test results, and 2) assess the trade-off between timeliness and cost for the strategies identified. To develop the database for simulation modeling, the research team will survey hospitals regarding NBS specimen collection, and will partner with the Association of Public Health Laboratories to administer a national survey on state NBS program activities, policies and costs.