New Electronic Death Registration System is Coming!

The Ohio Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics will be implementing a new electronic death registration system which will be used starting on January 1, 2007. The new system is being designed to meet the National Center for Health Statistics and the National Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Reduction Act of 2004 guidelines which will be put in place in the near future by the federal government. This new system will add many features to the current electronic system already offered by the state.

Features to the new system will help to make the completion of the death certificate more accurate and efficient. Some of the major features of the new system will verify whether the Social Security number of the decedent matches that of the Social Security database. The system will also allow for the printing of the burial permit at the funeral directors office instead of having to drive to a local or sub-registrars office. The system will also assist coroners and physicians in properly completing the cause of death section of the death certificate.

The Ohio Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics will be working to train coroners, physicians and physicians offices in the use of the Electronic Death Registration System so that fully completed death certificates can be printed from the system.

All deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2007 will need to be initiated on this new system. Since all funeral directors will need to have access to this system to start a death certificate, the State will be offering a large number of training sessions throughout Ohio to accommodate the large number of trainees. In addition, all county coroners will also utilize this new system starting January 1, 2007.

The state will conduct 190 training sessions which will be conducted in 13 regions throughout the state between September 20 and November 30, 2006. These 3 hour sessions (approved for funeral director ceu's), will provide a comprehensive overview of the system and will allow new users of the system to sign up for a user id and password.

Information regarding the available training dates has been sent to all funeral directors and coroners. We encourage all individuals to sign up early to insure a spot in the session that fits their schedule.

If you have questions regarding this information, please call 614-644-0156.