5 Things About Timely Hearing Screening, Diagnosis, and Intervention in Infants

Recommended Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) benchmarks include screening all infants for hearing loss before 1 month of age; diagnostic evaluation before 3 months of age for infants whose screen indicates potential hearing loss; and enrollment in early intervention before 6 months of age for infants with hearing loss. This is known as the EHDI 1-3-6 plan. Without timely screening, diagnosis, and intervention, hearing loss can cause significant delays in a child's speech, language, social, and emotional development. Early identification and intervention can help the infant and family access helpful support.

Healthcare providers' reporting of data related to infant screening, diagnosis, and early intervention is essential to ensure that all children with hearing loss receive services as early as possible. But challenges to reporting data to EHDI programs exist. Staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) worked together to understand barriers to reporting and follow-up.

Here are five things to know.

1. The EHDI 1-3-6 plan is crucial to reducing long-term impacts of early hearing loss on developmental outcomes.

Healthcare providers can help ensure that children who do not pass their newborn hearing screen are diagnosed and enrolled in early intervention by reporting a child's diagnostic and follow-up data to their state's EHDI program. State public health departments can use this information to conduct individual outreach to help families better navigate the process of receiving services and to monitor progress in meeting benchmarks for the 1-3-6 plan.