Kanabec Hospital receives ‘Excellence in Birth Registration Award’

Kanabec Hospital has received “Excellence in Birth Registration” award from the Office of the State Registrar in the Minnesota Department of Health. The award was presented on April 30, 2010, at the third annual “Excellence in Birth Registration” training conference in St. Paul. The awards recognize hospitals for accurate and timely birth registration.

During 2009, 70,414 babies were born in Minnesota in 107 birthing facilities. Essential legal and health information is filed for each birth with the Minnesota Department of Health. Award winning facilities met or exceeded important criteria, including completion of at least 94 percent of all birth registrations within five days of the birth in 2009.

In addition to the recognition awards, the conference emphasized the importance of collecting and reporting quality data.

“We applaud all of the hospitals that received this award,” said Steve Elkins, Minnesota State Registrar. “These hospitals demonstrate a strong commitment to providing timely legal registration and valuable information for protecting and improving public health.” 

Birth data are used in many ways. The data can influence planning for maternal and child health and assist in pinpointing geographic areas that may benefit from additional public health measures. For example, information about immunization and tobacco use during pregnancy are included in the birth data collection process.

Each award recipient also complied with quality standards set by the National Center for Health Statistics in six key items used in public health research. Successful hospitals participated in the training conference to be eligible for their award.

 If you have more questions about this or any other Kanabec Hospital initiative please contact Dawn Plested at dplested@kanabechospital.org.

Sheila Peterson, HIS Supervisor, Becki Baumann, Birth Registrar, and Steve Elkins, State Birth Registrar