In 2024, VCHIP, in collaboration with the Vermont Department of Health and the Perinatal Quality Collaborative - Vermont (PQC-VT) launched a birth certificate quality improvement initiative as part of a four-year Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PQC) grant.
The overarching goals of the BCQI Initiative include learning and sharing with each other’s birth certificate data entry processes proven successful with increasing accuracy and timeliness, as well as disseminating and developing educational materials for sustained birth certificate data training for hospital staff.
Throughout the year, we explored process improvement interventions:
- Identifying an improvement team at each hospital
- identifying steps currently taking at each hospital for birth certificate data collection using a process workflow diagram to ensure team members understand current processes.
- Ensuring staff entering birth certificate data have access to necessary clinical data
- Educating and training on how to enter birth certificate data.
Learn More
Recent Call Recording
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Best Practices for Birth Certificate Data Collection Refresher Training (Recorded on October 6, 2025)
Learning Series Calls
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- Session 1: Why is the Birth Certificate Important to Birthing People, Newborns, and our Hospital? (Recording on June 10, 2024)
- Session 2: Partnering Across Department to Improve Accuracy of 11 Key Variables (Recorded on September 9, 2024)
- Session 3: Tools to Improve Reporting Accuracy of 11 Key Variables (Recorded on October 7, 2024)
- Session 4: Identify and Spread Best Practices for Data Collection: Verification and Training (Recorded on November 4, 2024)
Education Resources Available for Hospital Teams
Vermont Vital Stats and Tip Sheets
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- The Vermont Insurance Tip Sheet provides a list of private, Medicaid and other types of possible responses to "Principal Source of Payment for This Delivery" on the Birth Certificate Facility Worksheet.
- BCQII Definitions & Data Entry Tip Sheet for Hospitals (DOC)
- This document provides an overview of 11 key variables under review for this QI project including variable definitions, tips for entry, and space for hospitals to add in their own team/EMR specific sources and instructions.
- Vermont Department of Health Vital Records Phone Number: 802-863-7275
CDC Supports
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- CDC Guide to Completing Birth Certificate Worksheets (PDF)
- This document provides information on all terms and questions within the Birth Certificate Worksheet, including variable definitions, specific instructions for completing each item, source information along with key words and abbreviations.
Hospital Audit Checklists
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- Either document below can be used to record within-hospital audits. Either version can be used. Extra rows at the bottom of the form can be used for other indicators chosen within the hospital teams.