Promoting Early Diagnosis of Congenital Hearing Loss With Patient Navigators

The patient navigator group will involve regular phone contact with the patient navigator. The patient navigator will contact the participant by phone to conduct an interview and provide education on infant hearing and diagnostic hearing services. The timing of the subject child's appointment and the instructions of the outpatient auditory brainstem response test are discussed. In the second part of the study, further educational tools are given to parent(s) and discussion of additional follow up mechanisms, including community hearing services and types of interventions for pediatric hearing loss is imparted.

The subjects will have access to discuss any questions or concerns with our office or audiology staff, as is the standard of care practice. They will not be contacted by study personnel or the patient navigator after discharge from the hospital and before the initial diagnostic test or before any subsequent auditory brainstem response test. The patients may contact and be contacted by our clinic staff regarding scheduling or rescheduling of the hearing test, as is standard practice.