[Establishment of a newborn hearing screening center in Baden-Württemberg, Germany]

Since 01.01.2019, the central tracking of conspicuous hearing screening results in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg has been carried out by a specially established hearing screening center for newborn hearing screening based in Heidelberg and Stuttgart. In this paper, we report on the current conceptualization and implementation of tracking in the federal state. A screening program is only effective and goal oriented if all involved parties-including parents, birthing facilities, specialists in private practice, and other service providers-work together. The amount of work involved in providing information, carrying out the screening examinations, and performing confirmatory diagnostics within the specified timeframe is immense. A follow-up mechanism in terms of quality assurance for newborn hearing screening appears to be necessary.