Congenital heart disease treatments have a relatively brief history, but critical advances are being made at an amazing rate. An important issue yet to be addressed, though, is the creation of a standard of care in newborn screening for congenital heart disease. One such test that has been tied to the presence of congenital heart disease is the pulse oximetry screening. As in hearing screening (the first public health-sponsored screening of newborns to not use the Guthrie specimen), the procedure is noninvasive, simple to execute, easy to interpret, and can be performed during the nursery stay. In the last few years there have been research projects and publications showing the need for pulse oximetry testing to be a part of the newborn screening panel. I urge you to take a look at the research that has been done as well as research projects that are currently being done and make pulse oximetry testing a part of the newborn screening panel today.

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