Newborn screening residual dried blood spot use for newborn screening quality improvement

The outcomes of a meeting that focused on the role of the residual dried blood spots from newborn screening for uses in the improvement of newborn screening are reported. Discussions of policy development, such as this one, begin by identifying the problem to be solved; in this case, it is achieving common ground to develop consistent policies for the use of residual dried blood spots, such that their benefits to the public's health and the health of children are amplified, and harms are minimized. Similarly, the issue must be considered contextually. The example of newborn screening for phenylketonuria was used to highlight the issues in the context of the condition with the longest history in newborn screening. Principles and recommendations for the use of the residual dried blood spot were developed.