No follow-up after positive newborn screening: Medical neglect?

Abstract

The current study examined medical professionals' behaviors related to reporting medical neglect when a family is noncompliant with follow-up services after a positive newborn screeningresult. Pediatric medical professionals within an urban medical campus were provided with five case vignettes in relation to different diseases. Medical professionals rated the severity of family noncompliance with follow-up services and indicated whether they would report suspected medical neglect to Child Protective Services (CPS). Physicians were more likely to report medicalneglect than the other mandated reporters in the study. Logistic regression analyses found that medical professionals' perceptions of the severity of family noncompliance with services were significantly predictive of decisions to report medical neglect. Respondent gender and the method by which families were notified of screening results also significantly affected reporting behaviors in certain instances. Although all vignettes included information that met legal statutes for reporting neglect, medical professionals indicated that they would only report neglect 40-61% of the time across vignettes. Continued investigation of the rationale behind medical professionals' decision-making process and training protocols designed to improve mandated reporter knowledge and reporting behaviors are needed to further reduce bias and improve objectivity when considering ethical and professional obligations to report medical neglect.