Kansas is one of only 10 states that don’t require newborns be screened for a critical heart problem, but state health officials have been working to educate health care providers about the benefits of the testing.
Most hospitals and birthing facilities in Kansas do screen newborns for critical congenital heart disease despite not being required to do so. But about a third do not, those are mostly in rural areas that don’t have a lot of births.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment employees have been traveling across the state to train doctors and nurses to perform the screening and to raise awareness about its importance.
Some advocates for screening say the state should mandate the testing, which costs about $4 per test.
