Each hospital or health care provider attending a birth outside of a hospital is required to collect and transport specimens to the Newborn Screening Laboratory within specified timeframes (70.83.020 RCW).
These requirements ensure timely testing and diagnostic treatment for the protection of newborns. The timeframes for specimen collection and transport are:
- Specimen Collection: Initial specimens shall be collected no later than 48 hours following birth.
For all Washington births in 2017, including hospitals, birth centers, and home births, 98.3% of initial specimens were collected in compliance with this timeframe. This is an improvement of 0.1 percentage points from the previous year.
Specimen Collection Compliance by Birth Facility - Transit Performance: Initial specimens must be received by State Laboratory within 72 hours of collection (excluding days that the laboratory is closed – Sundays and Thanksgiving.)
For all Washington births in 2017, including hospitals, birth centers, and home births, 89.7% of initial specimens were received in compliance with this timeframe. This is an improvement of 0.5 percentage points from the previous year.
Specimen Transit Compliance by Birth Facility
Hospital performance data can also be found alphabetically, by birth volume, and by geographical region:
- Specimen Collection and Transit Performance Report – Alphabetical (PDF)
- Specimen Collection and Transit Performance Report - Hospital Birth Volume (PDF)
- Specimen Collection and Transit Performance Report - Hospital Geographic Location (PDF)
If you have questions regarding the compliance and quality standards for Newborn Screening, please contact us at 206-418-5410 or email at NBS.Prog@doh.wa.gov.