Section 4Sec./Art. 4

Definition of Terms. - Under this Act, the following terms shall mean the following:

(a)Audiologic diagnostic evaluation" shall refer to a service related to diagnosis of hearing loss administered by professionals or by Newborn Hearing Screening Centers.

(b)"Congenital hearing loss" shall refer to hearing impairment already present at birth.

(c)"Follow-up" shall refer to the monitoring of an infant with possible hearing loss for purpose of ensuring that the infant receives additional diagnostic services and intervention or treatment.

(d)"Healthcare practitioner" shall refer to physicians, nurses, midwives, nursing aides and traditional birth attendants.

(e)"Health Institutions" shall refer to hospitals, health infirmaries, health centers, lying-in centers or puericulture centers with obstetrical and pediatric services, whether public or private.

(f)"Intervention" shall refer to any service rendered to an infant diagnosed with hearing loss ranging from counseling, diagnosis, provision of hearing aid or the administration of any medical procedure for correction of hearing loss.

(g)"Newborn hearing screening database" shall refer to an organized body of information related to newborn hearing screening.

(h)"Newborn" shall refer to an infant from the time of complete delivery to thirty (30) days old.

(i)"Newborn hearing loss screening" shall refer to an objective, physiological procedure performed on a newborn for the purpose of determining if the newborn has hearing impairment.

(j)Newborn Hearing Screening Reference Center" shall refer to the central facility at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that defines testing and follow-up protocols, maintains an external laboratory proficiency testing program, oversees the national testing database and case registries, assists in training activities in all aspects of the program, and oversees content of educational materials.

(k)"Recall" shall refer to a procedure of locating an infant with a possible hearing loss for purposes of providing diagnostic services to confirm hearing condition and, as appropriate, provide intervention or treatment.

(l)"Referral" shall refer to an act of sending a patient to another service provider within the network for continuation of care.

(m)"Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program" or "UNHSP" shall refer to the program developed to carry out hearing screening for all newborns in the Philippines and to provide adequate interventions for infants with congenital hearing loss.