Electronic Death Registration System – EDRS
Washington State Department of Health (DOH)
The Department of Health (DOH) proposes to develop and implement an Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS). The
purpose of the EDRS is to leverage emerging technologies to more effectively and efficiently meet existing death
certificate deadlines while simultaneously improving data quality and completeness.
The current manual process of creating a certified death certificate requires funeral directors to deliver paper copies
to certifiers to complete the cause-of-death and then, either in person or by fax, route to deputy registrars for review
and permission to carry out disposition of human remains. Studies indicate a number of inefficiencies with this system including:
- 33% of death certificates are not signed by the death certifier within 48 hours of death, as required by law.
- 50% of death certificates are not filed with the county within 72 hours of death, as required by law.
- Funeral homes in Washington State spend over $1.5 million annually in courier, employee, and transportation costs to obtain required signatures.
EDRS will address these inefficiencies by providing an online, web-based system that captures and stores death certificate
data. The EDRS will replace a labor-intensive, time-consuming, paper-based, manual process with a web system that allows
funeral directors, cause-of-death certifiers (medical examiners, coroners, physicians, etc.), local health jurisdiction
deputy registrars, and DOH staff to have online input and approval capability. The system will also have a “drop to paper”
feature that will allow those who lack access to the system to follow through with filing and registering a death certificate
in paper format.
Additional information regarding this project is available upon request.
Project Lead: Washington State Department of Health (DOH)
Office: Center for Health Statistics
Phone Number: (360) 236-4307
Implementation Schedule: 7/2004 – 12/2008