New Jersey's Electronic Birth Certificate Program: Variations in data sources

Objectives. This study Sought to determine primary sources of data for elec tronic birth certificates. Methods. A survey was administered from 1997 through 1998 to maternity faci lities in New Jersey requesting information about what primary information sources were used for 53 electronic birth certificate variables. Potential information sources included the facilities' maternal and infant medical re cords, the prenatal record, and a parent-completed birth certificate worksh eet. Results. Among the 66 maternity facilities responding, there was significan t variation in the choice of primary data sources for the electronic birth certificate variables examined. Conclusions. The variability of primary sources for electronic birth certif icate data acquisition represents a potential cause of systematic error in reported vital statistics information.