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This section of our newsletter is where we take time to respond to your inquiries! Based on your responses to last year’s newsletter survey, we learned that the “Director’s Desk” is the most favorite, highest rated section of our newsletter. Well, we’d love to hear from you! If you have an inquiry you’d like to submit for inclusion in an upcoming issue, simply let me know!
Q. To whom may we issue the birth certificate of a deceased person?
A. In compliance with Rule 511-1-1-.34 (4), copies of birth certificates of deceased persons may be issued to any person who shows proof of death of the person named. Such copies shall be clearly marked “Deceased” in large letters on the face of the birth certificate.The fee is still $25.00.
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CONSTITUENTS' CORNER
A VERY SPECIAL VISIT!
The State Office had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Mrs. Willie Mae Hardy Durham when she visited to request her birth certificate. Mrs. Durham’s visit was particularly special because she is 109 years of age, which means that she was born before Georgia began recording vital events. Our staff was honored to serve her. Ms. Shawnketrius Tukes, Technical Support Representative, created Mrs. Durham’s delayed birth certificate and had this to say about the time she spent with her:
"When you talk about being humble and virtuous, those words are the adjectives that describe her. Being able to sustain and endure during an era where many of us probably would have given up is remarkable. Her presence gave me a feeling that I could persevere in the midst of adversity, trials, struggles and gives me hope for the future of my generation and generations to come. I am so thankful and blessed that I was able to be a part of a chapter in her book that has a beginning and not an end. I was overjoyed to finally have her birth documented. Now her legacy can be told to her family members and cherished for the rest of their lives."
State Registrar Donna Moore also had the privilege of spending some quality time with Mrs. Durham and gleaned a few of her secrets to a long life: 1) going to church, 2) loving the Lord, and 3) forgiveness. It is a rare occasion that we receive a visit from a customer who is able and willing to pass along lessons from a well-lived long life. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to serve Mrs. Durham and consider it an honor to have garnered her wisdom. Thank you, Mrs. Durham!
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HIGH-GRADING CUSTOMERS' EXPERIENCE AT THE STATE OFFICE
In our September October 2015 issue, we announced the installation of NEMO-Q kiosks at the State Office. NEMO-Q is a virtual queuing process that allows customers to secure a place in line by checking in at a kiosk to be serviced. The customer is then provided a ticket and is notified through the equivalent of a public address system when it is time to approach the service window to complete their transaction. NEMO-Q kiosks offer valued benefits to our customers such as reduced wait times and a better customer experience.
In order to capture the data that informs us of our customers’ experience, we recently added NEMO-Q customer feedback panels to each of our service windows. The panels are linked to a customer’s ticket and allow the customer to rate their experience in private by simply pushing a button that best describes the quality of service they received. The panels are designed with pictures and corresponding descriptions in English and Spanish (i.e. excellent/excelente, good/bueno, fair/justa, poor/pobre, and very poor/muy pobre) that depict the customer’s experience.
Capturing this information will inform us of our efficiency and the need for any changes that will allow us to provide our customers the best quality customer experience possible. Installing NEMO-Q customer feedback panels is just one more step we’ve taken to high-grade our customers’ experience!
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THE STATE OFFICE MOVES TO ITS NEW HOME!
The State Office of Vital Records is closing March 23, 2017 and moving to a new location. Our new location at 1680 Phoenix Boulevard, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30349 will open on April 3, 2017, with hours for the public of 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. For more information, please visit
dph.georgia.gov/VitalRecords.
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VITAL RECORDS PROCESSES: DID YOU KNOW?
INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION AND EVIDENCE
The State Office wants to process your requests in a timely manner. Currently, it takes anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to process a request. In some cases, it may take longer. Why? The number one reason for delayed processing is insufficient information or evidence. Below is a list of the most common examples of missing information that cause delays:
- A copy of the court order (We must have the original order with the court seal and judge’s signature.)
- Insufficient birth information (Providing a copy of the birth certificate is helpful.)
- Illegible and unclear requests (All requests must be legible and made on the appropriate vital records request form.)
- Requests for changes based on County certificates (All requests must be based on State certificates.)
- Incorrect evidentiary documents (The State Office advises counties regarding appropriate documentation needed to process requests.)
- Substantial delays in receiving proper evidentiary documents.
- An incomplete address (A complete residential address is needed to process a request.)
- Insufficient processing fee (The appropriate fee must be remitted with the request.)
Ensuring that requests are made on the proper vital records form(s) and that the appropriate evidentiary documents and sufficient information are included will go a long way in assisting the State Office to process requests without delay. We appreciate your cooperation, and look forward to assisting you should you have questions! Please contact us at (404) 679-4702.
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GAVERS TECHNICAL TIPS
Recently, Adobe Systems released a new version of their free PDF reader. As many of you know, whenever the GAVERS application needs to print a certificate, it does so by launching the free Adobe reader you’ve installed on your computer.
If you have upgraded to the latest version, Adobe Reader DC, you may experience problems when trying to print a certificate from the GAVERS application.
*A possible solution to address this issue is to uncheck the “Enabled Protected Mode at startup” box. Complete the following steps to accomplish this:
Step 1: Open Adobe Acrobat Reader DC program.
Step 2: Go to
Edit and choose
Preferences.
Step 3: In the Preferences menu, choose
Security (Enhanced) and uncheck
Enable Protected Mode at startup.
Step 4: A prompt will appear to confirm the option, click “Yes” and then click “ok” to close the Preferences menu. Close Adobe Acrobat Reader DC program and attempt to print.
*Please consult with your local IT engineer before modifying application settings.
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BIRTH QUALITY SCORE EXPLANATION
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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.
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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.
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BIRTH RECORD RATINGS:
THE TOP FACILITIES
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Congratulations to the following medical facilities whose December 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.
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Rank
50 or Fewer Births
1. Gordon Hospital
2. Wayne Memorial Hospital
3. Irwin County Hospital
4. Phoebe Sumter Medical Center
5. Upson Regional Medical Center
51 to 200 Births
1. Candler Hospital
2. Athens Regional Medical Center
3. Fairview Park Hospital
4. Meadows Regional Medical Center
5. Mayo Clinic Health Systems in Waycross
201 or More Births
1. Medical Center Central Geoorgia
2. Wellstar Kennestone Hospital
3. Grady Health System
4. Memorial Health University Medical Center
5. University Hospital Augusta
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Average Days to Register a Birth
2.6
1.4
2.1
2.7
2.9
2.1
4.6
2.2
4.0
1.3
2.2
3.0
2.5
2.0
2.5
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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.
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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.
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THE VITAL CONNECTION TEAM:
Donna Moore: State Registrar/Director
Cynthia Buskey-Martin: Program Administration Deputy Director
D’Andre Mayberry: Instructional Designer
Vital Records Staff: Content and Topic Contributors
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Georgia Department of Public Health | State Office of Vital Records | Phone: (404) 679-4702 |
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