Address
Form of workJob Title: Newborn Hearing Screening Advocate
Reports to: Director of Audiology
Position Information:
Hours Weekly: 38
Benefits:
- Health & Dental Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Long Term Disability Insurance
- 403 (b) Retirement Plan
- 12 Paid Holidays
- 21 Paid Time-Off Days
Texas Hearing Institute
The nationally renowned Texas Hearing Institute, formerly known as The Center for Hearing and Speech, is the most comprehensive resource for pediatric hearing loss in Texas and the only facility in the region that offers health services and spoken language education for children with hearing loss all under one roof. Children from more than 44 counties and all socioeconomic levels come to Texas Hearing Institute, where no child is turned away, regardless of their family's ability to pay. Texas Hearing Institute offers a wide range of services and programs that enable children with hearing loss to gain listening, speaking, and literacy skills to communicate verbally with their families and the community.
Job Summary: The NewbornHearing Screening Advocate will work with families at Texas Hearing Institute (THI)with the goal of ensuring all infants who fail their universal Newborn Hearing Screening(NBHS) receive diagnostic testing and intervention in a timely manner in orderto meet 1-3-6 Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) guidelines. Inaddition, the Newborn Hearing Screening Advocate will focus their efforts onoutreach within the community to maintain current relationships, foster newcollaborations, and expand referral networks to prevent and reduce delays forinfants that have failed their NBHS.
Responsibility/Duties:
- Work with local hospitals, birthing centers, and doula programs to ensure all newborns receive a Hearing Screening at birth or within one month of birth
- Contact and schedule auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing for newborns who did not receive a NBHS and/or did not pass their UNHS
- Assist families with initiating a referral to Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) physicians and schedule appointments for otologic clearance once a hearing loss is diagnosed
- Once otologic clearance is obtained, assist families with scheduling a hearing aid fitting appointment at THI
- Coordinate additional referrals as requested (genetics, imaging, ophthalmology, etc.)
- Educate families with unbiased information about all communication modes available for children with hearing loss
- Once hearing technology has been dispensed, ensure timely audiologic follow-up
- Provide immediate referrals for speech therapy, Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) services, and Auditory Impairment (AI)/DHH services within their local educational agency
- Identify transportation needs to ensure timely access to all service providers
- Track referrals for those patients that are eligible for the ABR Incentive Program and monitor those referrals that fall under the lost to follow-up
- Maintain and manage all working points of contacts (email, cell, home phone, etc.)
- Work with audiologists to ensure patient records are updated in TEHDI (diagnostic testing results, cancelations, audiology appointments, intervention dates, ECI and AI/DHH referrals)
- Schedule and monitor infants for Remote ABR program First Sounds, that is based out of Lufkin, TX
- Interpret for Spanish-speaking families
- Test Assist for audiologic testing (BOA, VRA, CPA)
- Attend monthly cochlear implant team meetings and make updates as necessary
- Monitor referrals, insurance verification process, and scheduling of infants referred to THI
- Communicate with Director of Audiology and CEO on a weekly basis
- Provide quarterly reports on ABR numbers/LTF numbers to Director of Audiology and CEO
- Document outreach and client outcomes within Excel spreadsheets and IMS clinical software
- Develop Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) strategies to:
- Improve and maintain 1-3-6 EHDI guidelines within THI
- Strive to reach 1-2-3 EHDI guidelines within THI
- Increase community awareness about NBHS test results and Texas Hearing Institute's role in diagnosis and intervention for children identified with hearing loss
- Expand current referral networks
- Performs all other related duties as required and assigned
Required Skills/Abilities:
- Bilingual - Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Spanish, including active listening and the ability to effectively communicate with parents and various pediatric professionals
- Ability to work independently
- Willingness to assist families and work together to find solutions to roadblocks
- Capacity to adjust to short-term change quickly and calmly, so that you can deal with unexpected problems or tasks effectively
- Previous experience with children preferred
- Capacity to accept or tolerate delays, roadblocks, and unforeseen problems without becoming discouraged
- Ability to communicate with parents and professionals through various modalities: telephone, email, fax, and virtual meetings (Zoom and Teams) to give and obtain necessary information
- Capacity to find solutions, search for, and ultimately gain the answer for any questions or problems that are unknown
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
- Excellent knowledge of Excel preferred (understanding formulas and making tracking spreadsheets)
- IMS (Medical Record Software) On-the-job training
- Use of office equipment, i.e. computers, iPads, scanners, fax machine
Education and Experience Requirements:
Bachelor's Degree
Physical Requirements:
Stand; walk; sit; reach with hands and arms;public speaking; hear; see; bend, able to lift 15 pounds; drive a motorvehicle. Job requires extensive computer use, employee must have sufficienthand dexterity to use a computer keyboard/mouse and computer screen for longperiods of time. Flu vaccination required. COVID-19 vaccination required.
Pleasesend your resume to Jennifer Wickesberg, Au.D., CCC-A, LSLS Cert. AVT at jwickesberg@texashearing.org.
Employment Type: FULL_TIME
