211.647 Duty of office on receipt of hearing risk certificate -- Standards for audiological assessment and diagnostic centers. (1) The office, on receipt of an auditory screening report of an infant from a hospital or alternative birthing center in accordance with KRS 216.2970 shall review each auditory screening report that indicates a potential hearing loss. The office shall contact the parents to schedule follow-up evaluations or make a referral for evaluations within three (3) business days. (2) The office shall secure information missing from birth certificates or hospital referral reports which is relevant to identifying infants with a hearing loss. (3) The office shall establish standards for infant audiological assessment and diagnostic centers based on accepted national standards, including but not limited to the "Guidelines for the Audiologic Assessment of Children From Birth to 5 Years of Age" as published by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and the "Year 2007 Position Statement: Principles and Guidelines for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Programs" as published by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH). The office may promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to establish the standards for the centers. (4) The office shall maintain a list of approved infant audiological assessment and diagnostic centers that meet the standards established by the office. An audiological assessment and diagnostic center included on the list shall meet the standards established by the office. An approved center may voluntarily choose not to be included on the list. (5) An approved audiology assessment and diagnostic center shall agree to provide requested data to the office for each infant evaluated and on any newly identified children ages birth to three (3) years with a permanent childhood hearing loss within forty-eight (48) hours and make a referral to the Kentucky Early Intervention System point of entry in the service area of the child's residence for services under KRS 200.664. A center shall submit documentation to the office of a referral made to the Kentucky Early Intervention System. A referral received by the Kentucky Early Intervention System from a center shall be considered a referral from the office. (6) If the audiological evaluation performed by the office contains evidence of a hearing loss, within forty-eight (48) hours the office shall: (a) Contact the attending physician and parents and provide information to the parents in an accessible format as supplied by the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; and (b) Make a referral to the Kentucky Early Intervention System point of entry in the service area of the child's residence for services under KRS 200.664. (7) The office shall forward a report of an audiological evaluation that indicates a hearing loss, with no information that personally identifies the child, to: (a) The Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing for census purposes; and (b) The Kentucky Birth Surveillance Registry for information purposes. (8) Cumulative demographic data of identified infants with a hearing loss shall be made available to agencies and organizations including but not limited to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Early Childhood Advisory Council, requesting the information for planning purposes. Effective: June 25, 2013 History: Amended 2013 Ky. Acts ch. 57, sec. 9, effective June 25, 2013. -- Amended 2009 Ky. Acts ch. 102, sec. 2, effective June 25, 2009. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 366, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 308, sec. 10, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 426, sec. 308, effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 144, sec. 13, effective July 14, 1992. -- Created 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 489, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1986. Legislative Research Commission Note (8/23/2019). In 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 114, sec. 1, the General Assembly renamed the "Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs" as the "Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs." References to that "commission" were changed to "office" throughout this statute. These name corrections should have been addressed when 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 114 was codified, but they weren't. These changes are being made now under the authority of KRS 7.136(2).