Automated Newborn Screening Results Reporting System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current newborn screening programs face challenges in ensuring timely and automated communication of screening results to recipients, leading to delayed or missed confirmatory testing and appropriate medical follow-up for at-risk infants.
Innovation Solution
A method and system in a clinical computing environment for electronically collecting and disseminating newborn screening results, utilizing a newborn screening manager to receive, identify, and communicate results to appropriate recipients, providing notifications and ensuring review of results by entities responsible for distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual mailing, faxing, or phoning of results is used, then current reporting methods are simple to implement, but results are not communicated timely and reliably to recipients
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a newborn screening manager as an intermediary system between laboratories and recipients. This manager automatically receives results from laboratories, identifies appropriate recipients, and communicates results through multiple channels (electronic messaging, mail, fax, phone), thereby improving communication reliability without requiring complex changes at the laboratory or recipient levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the newborn screening manager tracks whether recipients have been successfully contacted and whether results have been received. This feedback loop allows the system to retry communications through alternative methods and ensures reliable delivery, transforming the unreliable manual process into a monitored, self-correcting automated system.
2Loss of time
If automated approach is implemented, then communication timeliness and reliability improve, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The newborn screening manager is pre-configured with recipient information, communication preferences, and multiple communication methods before results are generated. When results arrive, the system immediately executes the pre-planned communication sequence without delay, reducing communication time while keeping the operational complexity manageable through prior setup.
Solution Approach 2:
The newborn screening manager serves multiple functions: receiving results from various laboratories, identifying different types of recipients (pediatricians, hospitals, family physicians), selecting appropriate communication methods, tracking delivery status, and retrying failed communications. This multi-functional design consolidates complexity into a single universal system rather than requiring separate solutions for each function.
3Reliability
If manual reporting is used, then system implementation is straightforward, but 4.5% of screen-positive results are not successfully communicated
Solution Approach 1:
The newborn screening manager operates autonomously to identify recipients, select communication methods, execute communications, and track delivery status without requiring manual intervention for each result. This self-service capability ensures consistent application of communication protocols and eliminates human errors that cause the 4.5% failure rate in manual reporting.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes communication parameters (method, timing, recipient contact information) based on result characteristics, recipient preferences, and delivery status. This flexibility allows the system to adapt to different situations and ensure successful communication, whereas manual reporting uses fixed, simplistic procedures that fail in edge cases.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for facilitating the electronic collection and dissemination of newborn screening results to identified and/or default recipients of the results. A newborn screening manager may be provided to receive and store newborn screening results in an associated database. The newborn screening results may then be communicated electronically to any number of recipients of the results. In some cases, a notification may be provided to the recipients, indicating that the newborn screening results are available to be reviewed. The recipients may then access and review the results.