Overview
Newborn screening programs are a vital public health resource that enable millions of infants to benefit from early detection and intervention of genetic, endocrine, metabolic, hearing, and critical congenital heart conditions. Yet in many jurisdictions across the country newborn screening data is fragmented, siloed, and subject to different screening procedures, turnaround times, and methods of interpreting results.
Our Approach
Altarum and its partners are helping states and jurisdictions address these gaps, creating a more streamlined and uniform system of newborn screening and reporting. We are building an online Resource Center for the exchange of knowledge with experts and peers, providing interoperability training, assessing state interoperability readiness, and creating customized roadmaps for states to help them reach specific interoperability objectives.
This builds on our two decades of experience advancing state health information exchange and interoperability, which includes developing solutions using a variety of products including Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), CDA and HL7 Version 2; building applications that support information exchange for disease surveillance and care coordination; and helping to create national standards for electronic birth defect reporting, newborn screening early hearing detection and intervention, and critical congenital heart defects and disease.
Results
While this HRSA-funded effort is just getting started, several states have already been accepted into the initiative. By improving connectivity between state public health newborn screening programs and health care providers, this program will help reduce morbidity and mortality associated with heritable disorders in newborns and children.
Contact Us
Craig Newman - PhD
Public Health Interoperability Expert
Areas of Expertise- Interoperability Standards Development
- Public Health Integration
- Interoperability Education
Craig Newman develops and implements health care interoperability standards focusing on the exchange of public health data, particularly in the areas of laboratory results, immunizations, and newborn screening. He has nearly two decades of experience in health care data interoperability and has worked on behalf of both a major EHR vendor and the CDC to improve electronic data exchange and clinical decision support. Craig works extensively with HL7, the standards development organization responsible for development of the FHIR data exchange standard. He is also a co-chair of the HL7 Public Health Work Group and HL7 Version 2 Management Group. Craig received the 2023 Association of Public Health Laboratories’ Achievements in Public Health Informatics Award for his efforts to advance interoperability in newborn screening. He has a bachelor's degree and a PhD in the areas of molecular and developmental biology.