Jasmine Plimmer, Samuel Cussen, Caroline Busfield, Tracey Hall
1Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, , Aotearoa / New Zealand
Biography:
Jasmine Plimmer:
Jasmine is the Manager of the Antenatal and Childhood Screening Programmes, which includes the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Early Intervention Programme (UNHSEIP). The screening programmes are part of the National Public Health Service, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora. Her background is in nursing, with a Bachelor of Health Science in Nursing. She has worked in all areas of health care settings including hospitals, primary care and across national screening programmes. Jasmine represents the UNHSEIP as a member of the Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Committee.
Abstract
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Early Intervention Programme (UNHSEIP) operates as a national programme with central oversight and a nationally applied screening protocol. This enables a highly consistent screening programme across the country.
However, the large volumes of hard copy screening information this generated created difficulties with storage of forms, checking of data, and reporting. In 2020 the UNHSEIP implemented electronic screening data transfer for all 20 health districts and rolled out a data management and reporting framework called the UNHSEIP Datamart. This successfully incorporates newborn hearing screening data from all districts and produces timely reporting that allows districts to more accurately monitor screening volumes and data quality.
The UNHSEIP Datamart incorporates three types of data (APEX, HiTrack .txt files and NHIMS) to automatically produce reports focused on Data Quality, Unscreened Babies and Partially Screened babies. This allows districts to quickly address any screening concerns and has become a valuable tool in reducing the numbers of unscreened babies.
Using both annual monitoring and a data visualisation application (rShiny) that is updated monthly, this framework provides both local and national oversight of key programme indicators. Districts can more easily visualise their performance as compared to others. Most importantly, any issues requiring quality improvement can be addressed locally and if required at the national level.