Newborn Screening Results

Thousands of newborn babies avoid neurodevelopmental disorders, serious disabilities and death each year because of proactive screening tests. The screening only requires a few drops of blood from a baby’s heel, which is taken within 48 hours of birth and repeated two weeks later. In the past, the only way for a healthcare provider to access the lab results was through a phone call from a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) lab technician, who calls if one or more of the test results is positive, or through a fax or mailed paper letter indicating any negative results— which could take up to three weeks to arrive.

Health Information Exchange Makes Screening Results Immediately Available

CORHIO and CDPHE have a collaborative effort that allows hospitals to send newborn screening results into the CORHIO health information exchange network. With these screening results available in the secure network, providers and other hospitals in the state can access the results immediately. The results are available directly in the provider’s electronic health record (EHR) system.

Benefits of access to newborn screening results via CORHIO network:

• Providers and office staff spend less time tracking down results
• Physicians make more informed and faster decisions by having all the facts at their fingertips
• Clinical caregivers know a child's test results immediately