§ 2500-g. Newborn infant hearing screening. 1. The commissioner shall,
within the amounts appropriated therefor, and in consultation with
health care providers or their representatives, establish a program to
screen newborn infants for hearing problems. This program shall
incorporate consensus medical guidelines and protocols, reflecting the
most cost-effective methods for detecting hearing problems as early as
possible in an infant's life. The program shall provide for follow-up
screening including referrals for screening or care. Such program shall
also provide for the reimbursement of health care providers performing
such services under the program.

2. It shall be the duty of the administrative officer or other
designated person at each facility licensed pursuant to article
twenty-eight of this chapter caring for newborn infants, to either
administer a hearing screening upon each such newborn infant or, if the
facility is not reasonably able to screen a newborn infant prior to
discharge, provide a referral for the newborn infant to obtain the
service following discharge. Facilities subject to the provisions of
this section that administer a newborn infant hearing screening shall
report to the department in a manner and format required by the
commissioner:

(a) the results of each newborn infant hearing screening performed;

(b) instances in which a newborn infant hearing screening is not
performed on a newborn infant before such infant is discharged from the
facility; and

(c) such other information or data as may be required by the
commissioner pursuant to regulation to fulfill the purposes of this
section.

3. Any person who performs a newborn infant hearing screening, meaning
a hearing screening performed upon a newborn infant, other than a
hearing screening administered by a facility pursuant to subdivision two
of this section, or upon a child under six months of age, shall report
to the department, in a manner and format required by the commissioner
pursuant to regulation:

(a) the results of each newborn infant hearing screening performed;
and

(b) such other information or data as may be required by the
commissioner to fulfill the purposes of this section.

4. The department shall collect and maintain the newborn infant
hearing results and information provided pursuant to subdivisions two
and three of this section in a statewide information system developed by
the department for such purpose.

5. The department shall provide access to newborn infant hearing
screening results and other information or data as determined by the
department to the following persons or entities for the following
purposes:

(a) The commissioner of health for the purposes of outreach, quality
improvement and accountability, research, and epidemiological studies
and disease control;

(b) The commissioner of health and mental hygiene for the city of New
York and local health departments for purposes of outreach, quality
improvement and accountability, research, epidemiological studies and
disease control;

(c) Health care professionals licensed under title eight of the
education law and their designees for the purposes of determining, with
respect to newborn infants or children under their care, whether a
newborn infant hearing screening was performed, whether a re-screening
or other follow-up is necessary, to enter newborn infant hearing
screening results and data, and for treatment purposes;

(d) A facility licensed under article twenty-eight of this chapter
that administers a newborn infant hearing screening for the purposes of
entering newborn infant hearing screening results and data into the
statewide information system and determining whether a screening,
re-screening or other follow-up is necessary;

(e) Third party payers as defined in paragraph (f) of subdivision two
of section twenty-one hundred sixty-eight of this chapter for the
purposes of quality assurance, accountability and outreach relating to
enrollees covered by the third party payer; and

(f) A commissioner of a local social services district with regard to
newborn infants or children in his or her legal custody.

6. All newborn hearing screening results and other information or data
maintained by the department shall be confidential and shall not be
disclosed except as provided for in this section. The parent or guardian
of a newborn infant or child for whom a newborn infant hearing screening
was performed may obtain a copy of the newborn infant hearing screening
results from:

(a) The facility that administered the newborn infant hearing
screening;

(b) The person who performed the screening, if the screening was not
administered at a facility subject to the provisions of this section; or

(c) The statewide information system that maintains the results by
requesting the record pursuant to procedures established by the
commissioner in regulation.