OCTOBER 2017 EDITION
FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
This section of our newsletter is where we take time to respond to your inquiries. If you have an inquiry you’d like to submit for inclusion in an upcoming issue, simply let us know.

Q1: Who is responsible for signing the death record of an individual that dies within hours of being released from the hospital?

a) The hospital physician
b) The medical examiner/coroner
c)  The patient’s primary care physician

A1: This is a very interesting question. The answer is a little complex because it depends on the circumstances surrounding the decedent’s death. Typically, the hospital physician isn’t responsible for signing the decedent’s death record especially if the death did not occur within their institution.

So that leaves us with either the decedent’s primary physician or the medical examiner/coroner, so let’s explore. If a person passes away from a pre-existing condition after being released from the hospital, the physician in charge of the patient’s care for the illness or condition which resulted in death will be responsible for completing and signing the death record. However, if the individual passes away from unnatural causes, foul play or any other circumstance aside from a pre-existing condition, the medical examiner who performs the autopsy upon the decedent or the coroner, will complete and sign the death record. It is worthy to note that this is subject to change depending on the jurisdiction in which the death occurred. For further information, please reference GA Code 31-10-15, (c) (1) as it directly relates to death registration.

Q2: What is the status of the Fee & Issuance roll-out?

A2: Sixty-six counties are using Fee & Issuance. As of September and October 2017, the following counties were trained:

1.   Gilmer
2.   Macon
3.   Marion
4.   Schley
5.   Stewart
6.   Sumter
7.   Talbot
8.   Webster

The 26 counties below are proposed for November:
1.   Walton
2.   Morgan
3.   Oconee
4.   Clarke
5.   Jasper
6.   Putnam
7.   Jones
8.   Baldwin
9.   Hancock
10. Washington
11. Baker
12. Calhoun
13. Chattahoochee
14.   Clay
15.   Colquitt
16.   Coweta
17.   Dougherty
18.   Early
19.   Lee
20.   Miller
21.   Mitchell
22.   Quitman
23.   Randolph
24.   Taylor
25.   Terrell
26.   Worth
CONSTITUENTS' CORNER

Requests for vital records of veterans may be fulfilled free of charge when requested by the veteran, their dependents, the Department of VA or veterans’ organizations. Such records include marital, birth, divorce or death. There is no restriction on the amount of records that can be requested.

The requested record is restricted to the veteran named on the certificate and not members of the veteran’s family. Therefore, only the certificate of the veteran can be issued. 

A veteran is defined as any person, who served honorably on active duty in the armed forces of the United States. Active duty military personnel are not eligible for free certificates.

The record may be requested in writing or by completing the appropriate certificate request form found on the DPH Vital Records website. Click here to download a copy of the form.

When requesting the death certificate of the veteran, the following must be presented:

  • Proof of the decedent's veteran status. Acceptable documents include a DD214, a photocopy of a military or a retiree ID card, or a letter of verification from the Veteran's Administration.
  • A copy of a government-issued picture ID card of the person requesting the record.

Please refer to O.C.G.A. 38-1-1 (2010) for additional information.
BIRTH CERTIFICATE PAPER - NEW ORDERING PROCESS
In efforts to standardize the way we order birth certificate paper moving forward, you will now be required to submit a birth certificate order form. This form is located on the website and may be accessed by clicking here. Please be advised that your order will not be processed without this form.
ORDERING YOUR SECURITY PAPER

Paper can be ordered semi-annually or annually. The cost per pack is $11 and $220 per box of 2000. Payments must be received prior to shipping. Please mail all payments to: Georgia Department of Public Health, State Office of Vital Records, 1680 Phoenix Blvd., Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30349. Shipments will be mailed within 24 hours via UPS 2-Day Ground.

As a reminder, after you receive your new paper, please be sure to secure it properly. See below for additional information and helpful hints.

SECURING YOUR SECURITY PAPER
  1. MUST be stored within the vital records office
  2. MUST be stored in a locked file cabinet, closet, or safe
  3. MUST not be left in view of consumers or other bystanders
  4. MUST use in the order in which it was received
  5. MUST arrange storage so that it is issued in numerical sequence
  6. MUST be protected at all times and access must be limited to only authorized persons
GAVERS TECHNICAL TIPS

The Fee and Issuance Module allows you to more closely manage your requests and also gives you the ability to route them electronically to the State Office of Vital records. An important part of this process requires you to accurately report the DCN\Security number (can be found bottom left of the security birth paper). The Fee and Issuance Module allows you to either manually enter this number or by using a barcode reader (above the DCN\Security number you will see the barcode). Following is a technical tip that will allow you to record this information just in case you may have missed doing so:

Scenario 1: You forgot to record the DCN\Security number (the record will remain in your work queue with a status of  Incomplete )

Solution:  Retrieve the request by clicking on FEE -> FUNCTIONS -> FEE REGISTRATION -> SEARCH REQUEST and enter request number. Your request will appear on the screen (if not, you may have to select the record by clicking on the work Queue button near the top right of your screen). Click on SAVE REQUEST to re-save and proceed by clicking on ADD DCN to record the appropriate DCN\Security number.
 
Scenario 2: You entered the wrong DCN\Security number

Solution: Retrieve the certificate with the incorrect DCN\Security number from the customer (please be sure to shred the incorrect certificate). Follow the steps mentioned above to bring up the request by using the GAVERS Fee module. Click the PRINT button to reprint the certificate. Reprinting will allow you to enter or scan the correct DCN\Security number (The application will automatically replace the previously entered DCN\Security number for this request).
BIRTH QUALITY SCORE
EXPLANATION

The birth quality score for each facility takes into account the timeliness and the completeness of all births registered by a facility within a given month. According to Georgia Code § 31-10-9 all live births should be registered within 5 days, so we use this as the standard for timeliness. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) provides national benchmarks for what should be an acceptable or expected percent of “unknown” or “missing” responses for the various demographic and medical questions on the birth work sheet, and we use those benchmarks to set our target limits for missing or unknown levels.

A facility’s score is calculated like this:

100 – (15 x [% of births registered late]) – [# fields exceeding unknown/missing limit]

To put that in more concrete terms:

  • If a facility registered 10% of births late that would result in a loss of 1.5 points (10% of 15 = 1.5)
  • If a facility exceeded the unknown/missing limit for 5 items that would result in a loss of 5 points
  • The total score for that facility would then be 100 – 1.5 – 5 = 93.5
The details of how a score was calculated for a particular facility can be found on the individual Birth Data Quality Report that is sent to each birth hospital every month. See below for an example Birth Data Quality Report with an explanation of how this facility’s score would be calculated. 
In this instance the final score for ABC Hospital would be 100 – 1.59 – 5 = 93.41. If you have any questions about your facilities score or would like more insight into how the score was calculated please contact your regional consultant.
BIRTH RECORD RATINGS:
THE TOP FACILITIES
Congratulations to the following medical facilities whose September ratings for timeliness and completeness have placed them in the top rankings in the state of Georgia. The scores were calculated using the new, stricter standards from NCHS.
Rank 
                                        
50 or Fewer Births
1. Irwin County Hospital
2. Wellstar Douglas Hospital
3. Tanner Medical Center Villa Rica

51 to 200 Births
1. Phoebe Putney Memorial
2. South Georgia Medical Center
3. Fairview Park Hospital

201 or More Births
1. Piedmont Athens Regional
2. Memorial Health University Medical Center
3. Candler Hospital
Average Days to Register a Birth


2.1
1.7
2.8


3.3
2.5
2.9


4.5
2.5
2.0
DEATH REGISTRATION CYCLE

We appreciate all of the work our counties do to complete death records, and we look forward to working with you to improve death registration cycle time, and in doing so, improve our ability to monitor the health and well-being of our Georgia residents.
SEPTEMBER 2017

60 or Fewer Deaths Per Year
Echols County (10 Death Records Filed, 80.0%of Death Records Filed within 10 Days)
Montgomery County (22 Death Records Filed, 72.7%of Death Records Filed within 10 Days)
Treutlen County (52 Death Records Filed, 69.2%of Death Records Filed within 10 Days)

61 to 120 Deaths Per Year
Brantley County (109 Death Records Filed, 81.7%of Death Records Filed within 10 Days)
Pierce County (95 Death Records Filed, 80.0%of Death Records Filed within 10 Days)
Lanier County (64 Death Records Filed, 73.4%of Death Records Filed within 10 Days)

121 to 240 Deaths Per Year
Towns County (162 Death Records Filed, 83.3%of Death Records Filed within 10 Days)
Berrien County (146 Death Records Filed, 74.7%of Death Records Filed within 10 Days)
Grady County (196 Death Records Filed, 70.4%of Death Records Filed within 10 Days)
VITAL RECORDS GEORGIA CODE & REGULATIONS

The State Office of Vital Records is making it easy and convenient for you to access our code and regulations on the go. We have provided a link below for quick access.  Click here for Georgia Code. Click here for Rules and Regulations.
CONTACT INFORMATION
REGIONAL TRAINING & SUPPORT MANAGER
Joseph Little
joseph.little@dph.ga.gov
(770) 909-2952 or (404) 863-4832
REGIONAL CONSULTANT (EAST)
Cheryl Berry-Desbordes
cheryl.desbordes@dph.ga.gov
(770) 909-2938 or (404) 956-0124
REGIONAL CONSULTANT (SOUTH)
TBA
REGIONAL CONSULTANT (NORTH)
Justin Davis
justin.davis@dph.ga.gov
(770) 909-2940 or (404) 414-9216
REGIONAL CONSULTANT (WEST)
Mannett Foster
mannett.foster@dph.ga.gov
(770) 909-2943 or (404) 901-1634
REGIONAL COORDINATOR
Crystal Myers
crystal.myers@dph.ga.gov
(770) 909-2947
GAVERS SUPPORT
Technical Support
(404) 679-4745
REGIONAL COORDINATOR
Quentoria Hutchersonn
quentoria.hutcherson@dph.ga.gov
(770) 909-2939
STATE OFFICE OF VITAL RECORDS
Contact Center
(404) 679-4702
THE VITAL CONNECTION TEAM:
Donna Moore: State Registrar/Director
Cynthia Buskey-Martin: Program Administration Deputy Director
Akilah McGhee: Compliance and Communications Manager
D’Andre Mayberry: Instructional Designer
Vital Records Staff: Content and Topic Contributors
Georgia Department of Public Health | State Office of Vital Records | Phone: (404) 679-4702 |
Fax: (404) 679-4730 | akilah.mcghee@dph.ga.gov | dph.georgia.gov/VitalRecords