Online availability of vital records from the state Health Department has had "tremendous positive customer responses," the Office of Health Status Monitoring reports. Health Dept. online
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The service was first offered online last year in a collaborative effort by the monitoring office and eHawaiiGov to develop a system allowing ordering of birth and marriage certificates from any location with Internet access at all hours.
"We had around 400 responses from our customers regarding this particular online service, with the majority expressing how thankful they are that this is available because of the convenience and efficiency it offers," said Dan Morrison, eHawaiiGov general manager.
The system enables a person to request a certified copy of a particular record with safeguards to ensure the requester is authorized based on his or her relationship to the record.
The online service works this way: A person using a credit card may place an online order for a copy of his or her own birth or marriage certificate or that of their child or relative, if the name on their card matches the name on the requested certificate.
A series of electronic verifications is used to ensure only those entitled by state law to access the birth and marriage records receive certified copies.
If the name on the credit card doesn't match a name on the certificate, the person can't order a copy online, but may order a copy by mail or in person at the Health Department.
Before the online system began, certified copies of records could be obtained only by mailing in a request or in person at 1250 Punchbowl St.
State of Hawaii