Requires facilities to perform pulse oximetry screening on newborns

BILL NUMBER:S6726

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring facilities to perform pulse oximetry screening on newborns

Purpose

Requires facilities to perform pulse oximetry screening on newborns.

Justification

This bill requires each birthing facility in the state of New York be required to perform a pulse oximetry screening for congenital birth defects (CHDs), a minimum of 24 hours after birth, on every newborn in its care. For newborns, pulse oximetry screening involves taping a small sensor to a newborn's foot while the sensor beams red light through the foot to measure how much oxygen is in the blood, Pulse oximetry screening is effective at detecting CHDs that may otherwise go undetected by current screening methods. Pulse oximetry screenings are noninvasive, painless, and take approximately one minute to perform. According to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services' Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children, congenital heart disease affects approximately seven to nine of every 1,000 live births in the United States and Europe; the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that CHD is the leading cause of infant death due to birth defects. Current methods used to detect CHDs include prenatal ultrasound screening and repeated clinical examinations; however, prenatal ultrasound screenings, alone, identify less than half of all CHD cases. Many newborn lives could potentially be saved by requiring birthing facilities to incorporate pulse oximetry screening as a method for early detection of CHDs in conjunction with current CHD screening methods.

Fiscal implications

None to state.

Prior legislative history

New Bill.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.