Lab Matters Spring 2021 | Page 25

NEWBORN SCREENING
This image , developed by Amy M Gaviglio , MS , CGC , Genetics and Public Health Consultant , highlights the diversity of stakeholders engaged in the newborn screening system
understand those challenges , such as barriers to timely specimen receipt by the laboratory due to laboratory location , access to roads or couriers , or out-of-hospital births in hard-toreach populations that make specimen collection and transport more difficult . Understanding these gaps and needs through inclusive data assists with proper resource allocation and disbursement .
NewSTEPs collects NBS data from all 53 NBS programs nationally and there are over 500 active users in the NewSTEPs data repository representing all programs and the larger NBS community . In order to fairly analyze data submitted and make conclusions about national NBS program performance and operation , including fair data benchmarking and recommendations , data must reflect the entire country and all NBS programs and populations screened . NewSTEPs recognizes this and continues to prioritize DEI in data to best support the NBS system and make data-driven decisions .
NBS is successful when all parts of the system work together . To ensure the best possible health outcomes for newborns , specimen collection and receipt must take place at the appropriate time for the laboratory to provide timely results to follow-up , who must then connect with the newborn ’ s health care provider , who in turn connects with the family . Because we know that racial and socioeconomic disparities in healthcare delivery and access exist , it is incumbent upon us at APHL to include diverse stakeholder voices in our program activities to identify the factors that contribute to an inequitable healthcare system and learn how we can remedy those disparities . To truly support One Public Health and embody One APHL , we must continue to make DEI integral to the newborn screening system . n
Because we know that racial and socioeconomic disparities in healthcare delivery and access exist , it is incumbent upon us at APHL to include diverse stakeholder voices in our program activities to identify the factors that contribute to an inequitable healthcare system and learn how we can remedy those disparities .”
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