Using data released by the Department of Public Health and Human Services, MTCIR reviewed thousands of records for dozens of healthcare facilities in Montana. After analyzing all the data to determine the on-time performance for each facility as it pertains to newborn blood samples, we mapped them out.
There are 33 facilities (hospitals, birth centers or midwives) visualized in the map below. Each data point on the map represents one facility. In some cases where there is more than one facility in a given city, you will need to zoom in far enough to see both points using the map’s zoom tool on the left-hand side. You can also achieve this by using the search bar on the right-hand side if you know the name of the facility you are looking for.
To interact with the map and view a facility’s performance, simply click on a data point and a pop-up window will appear. The window will show you the percentage of all samples over the entire data set that arrived late to both labs for a given facility, as well as a percentage of overall lateness which is the average for both labs.
All samples are sent via mail or delivered by courier to the Montana Public Health Laboratory in Helena. MTPHL performs six of the total 29 conditions tested for. Upon receipt in Helena, a portion of every sample is then forwarded to the Wisconsin State Laboratory where the remaining 23 tests are performed.
If you would like to share this map, click the button in the top-right corner and you will have the option of sharing with your friends on Facebook, with your followers on Twitter, linking to it directly, or embedding it on your own website or blog.
If you’re a parent with a child who has had a particularly good, or bad experience, with newborn screening in Montana, we would love to hear your story. Please fill out our contact form, or send us an email to: news@mtcir.org.
This story was written with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
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