NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Nearly one third of pediatricians do not receive
the results of newborn screening tests that are positive for at least 10
days, potentially depriving patients of care that could improve the course
of certain disorders, US researchers report.
``Abnormal values for certain disorders...need to be conveyed as quickly as
possible to prevent the potential early morbidity and mortality from such
conditions,'' Dr. Franklin Desposito, from UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
in Newark, and colleagues write.
National standards recommend that doctors be notified of positive results
within 5 to 7 days.
The survey of 574 primary care pediatricians nationwide caring for at least
one to five newborns each week also found that 26% said they do not receive
the results of tests that come back negative. Many of these doctors simply
assume that ''no news is good news,'' rather than seeking the results
through the birth hospital or state laboratory.
On the other hand, 90% of physicians said they were routinely notified of
positive results, Desposito and colleagues report in the August online
edition of the journal Pediatrics.
Nonetheless, the study findings underscore the need for better
state-administered newborn screening programs for the roughly 4 million
children who are born in the US each year, according to the study authors.
Indeed, 92% of doctors said they would welcome a better state system that
allows direct communication between physicians and the state-run
laboratories that perform the tests. The ideal, some doctors suggested,
would be an electronic system that linked to the doctor's office.
``All initial screening test results for infants cared for from birth need
to be communicated to the pediatrician: 7 days for screen-positive results
and 10 to 14 days for all results,'' the researchers conclude.
Under the current system, the procedures for obtaining test results vary
from state to state. In all states, however, the newborn screening systems
report results to the birth hospital, but the newborn's physician may not be
notified at all.
The investigators found that some of the barriers to getting test results
included babies being born at hospitals where the physician does not work,
infants born in other states, and too much personnel time needed to track
results.
SOURCE: Pediatrics 2001;108:e22.
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