On a national level, the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC) makes recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on disorders to be included on the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP).
The ACHDNC currently recommends a screening panel of 37 core and 26 secondary conditions. States use this panel to guide their screening initiatives. States are not required to screen for all RUSP conditions and decide which disorders to include on their newborn screening panel.
Core conditions are the conditions that newborn screening is specifically designed to identify. A "core condition" is added to the newborn screening panel if:
- There is a specific and sensitive test available to detect it.
- The health outcomes of the condition are well understood.
- There is an available and effective treatment.
- Identification of the condition could affect the future reproductive decisions of the family.
Secondary conditions may be identified when looking for a core condition. A condition on the newborn screening panel is classified as a “secondary condition” if it is identified either:
- Unintentionally when screening for one of the core conditions
- As a consequence of confirmatory testing for an out-of-range result of a core condition