title: The universal newborn hearing screening program at the University Hospital of Ferrara: focus on costs and software solutions.
abstract: In the present paper, the authors report the results of the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) project at the University Hospital of Ferrara. A total of 6,759 full-term newborns and a total of 1,016 NICU babies were tested at the University Hospital of Ferrara, from January 2000 to December 2006. The paper presents information from clinically acceptable screening procedures developed and tested during the 6 years of the program and addresses two questions pertinent to hearing screening: (i) the cost-estimate of a UNHS program based on European economical and administration premises and (ii) the development of a database-structure for the evaluation of the UNHS/NHS performance and the individual patient tracking.
authors.affiliation: Audiology Department, University Hospital of Ferrara, Corso Giovecca 203, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciorba
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hatzopoulos
authors.forename: Micol
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Busi
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guerrini
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petruccelli
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martini
mesh_terms: D003628:Database Management Systems / Q000191:economics*; D003638:Deafness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006320:Hearing Tests / Q000191:economics*; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D007558:Italy; D015997:Neonatal Screening / Q000191:economics*; D012984:Software