Internship/Practicum Project Title: Texas Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (TEHDI) Care Coordination Pilot
Semester: Year RoundPaid: NoTotal Hrs.: 200-460Hrs/wk.: 16 (negotiable)Duration:1 semesterLocation: Main Campus-Austin TX 78756
DSHS Area/Program:Community Health Improvement/Newborn Screening Unit Internship Supervisor: Eugenia Dunham, MPH, MS
DSHS Internship Coordinator: Wendy Andreades, MBA Ph: 512-776-3750 Email:
Qualified and interested students are directed to submit an internship application, letter of interest (indicating the specific project
or projects the student is interested in), resume, and two letters of recommendation via e-mail to Wendy Andreades.
The Texas Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (TEHDI) care coordination pilot project, as part of the Newborn Screening (NBS) Unit, will provide active engagement in both services and monitoring by providing follow-up coordination of newborns and infants who do not pass the newborn hearing screen.
–Purpose and/or goals: The Care Coordination Pilot project will establish a protocol of best practices to follow-up with families and providers to ensure newborns and infants are receiving appropriate and timely intervention services when needed.
–Population that benefits from program/project: The intern will serve as a liaison between families, birthing facilities, primary care providers, early intervention specialists, parent-to-parent groups and audiologists in the hearing testing, diagnosis and intervention process.
–Relevant statutes or other policies: Newborn Hearing Screening is mandated by health and safety code, Chapter 47. Certification of NBHS programs is based on the 2007 Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) Position Statement. Certification policy is located on the NBS website.
–Project Description: The intern will be responsible for tracking follow-up care of all newborns and infants who do not pass their initial birth hearing screening and who experience late onset of hearing loss in a specific region of the state.
–Stakeholders:
- Program managers, supervisors and screening staff of birthing facilities
- Early intervention (EI) personnel, management information system (MIS) staff members
- Primary care providers, audiologists and parent support
group staff members - TEHDI team and DSHS Leadership
–Graduate and/or undergraduate commensurate with learning objectives and level of knowledge
–Bachelor/Master degree in social work, public health, nursing and/or related field
Preferred:
–Experience and knowledge of Newborn Hearing Screening programs and best practices.
–Experience in planning and coordinating projects in a public health setting.
–Ability to work productively with people from varying socio-economic groups and cultural backgrounds.
–Ability to handle confidential issues and material.
–Knowledge of HIPPA and privacy laws.
–Ability to communicate and deal tactfully and effectively with the public.
–Knowledge of medical care resources in Texas.
–Knowledge of program coordination. / Learning Objectives:
–Gain experience and skills in applying the principles of program planning and resource management strategies in an organizational and community initiative.
–Gain experience analyzing legal, ethical and practice issues relative to public health.
–Gain experience applying quality and performance improvement concepts to address organizational performance issues.
Intern Activities:
–Review the patient record to identify barriers to care coordination that can be corrected at the birthing facility.
–Review the patient record to determine what care coordination is needed and identify barriers the family may encounter to receiving care.
–Contact the primary care provider (PCP) to recommend best practices and educate provider as needed.
–Contact birthing facility providers, EI, and audiology providers as needed to reinforce appropriate follow-up steps.
–Contact parents as needed to educate around resources.
–Determine what processes are most effective in decreasing Loss to follow-up/Loss-to documentation (LTF/LTD) and prepare a mid-term report.
–Establish/identify quality improvement measures for care coordination
–Attend all Blue Ribbon seminars, tours and meetings
–Develop and give a presentation at the end of the semester (Blue Ribbon requirement)
Intern Deliverables:
–Mid-term report
–Quality improvement measures identified
–End of year project report documenting lessons learned
–PowerPoint presentation utilizing data and information gathered and documented on the project reports (Blue
Ribbon Requirement)
AA-5063 Interns Policy Form 2
Updated: 10/16/2017