Glades General Hospital in Palm Beach County can now register births literally at bedside. Thanks to its new Electronic Birth Registry (EBR) system, Glades General has automated and accelerated the process of registering births, reducing the costs and processing time. Now the staff at Glades General can gather the patient data, print out the report, and get the required electronic signatures all at the bedside, within minutes. Once she’s released, the new mom can immediately obtain an official copy of the newborn’s birth certificate at the Office of Vital Statistics at the Palm Beach County Health Department. Before, parents in Florida had to wait as long as six weeks to receive their new baby’s birth certificate in the mail.
In addition, the EBR enables Glades General to communicate electronically with the Healthy Start program, which offers assistance to qualified mothers. With the new system, Glades General Hospital significantly reduces the time required to issue a Social Security card to the newborn. The system also eliminates the need for a Healthy Start coordinator to personally visit the hospital to interview the applicant.
