Electronic Death Registration

Office of State Registrar - Electronic Death Registration for Coroners, Medical Examiners, Physicians and Clinic Staff

Physicians who provide cause of death for death certificates now have the option of providing this information electronically by entering data in Minnesota’s integrated electronic system (MN VRV2000). Nearly 400 physicians are now providing cause of death electronically. In addition to physicians and 22 clinics, there are 21 coroner and medical examiner offices representing 37 counties, 382 funeral homes, including 25 from neighboring states, and two bequest programs providing information for death records. All local registrars in 87 Minnesota counties issue death certificates from MN VRV2000.

Typically the funeral director begins the death record by entering the fact of death information into the computer. As soon as this information is saved, the death is registered and a fact of death certificate is immediately available for issuance. At the same time the death is registered, MN VRV2000 sends an electronic notification to the physician or designated staff person, notifying them that the decedent’s fact of death record is now available for the cause of death to be added. After the cause of death is added, a death certificate with both fact and cause of death is immediately available.

The physician may request a participant identification (ID) for him or herself, for designated staff or for both; each MN VRV2000 participant is assigned a participant ID and password with which they will access the system. A designated staff person has access to MN VRV2000 to enter cause and manner of death on the physician’s behalf. For more information about becoming a MN VRV2000 participant, see the instructions for completing the participant application form at the Office of the State Registrar’s physician website at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/osr/physician-me/participant.html.

Benefits
MN VRV2000 is easy to use. The web based application for electronic death registration may be accessed via any Internet location. When both the physician and funeral home are MN VRV2000 participants, the need for faxing, mailing or hand delivering worksheets is eliminated and the accuracy of the cause of death information improves.

Prompt completion of the death record and issuance of the death certificate is a valuable service to the decedent’s family. As soon as the record is filed, the certificate is available for issuance in all 87 counties and also at the Office of the State Registrar. Becoming a participant in the MN VRV2000 system also assists the physician in complying with statutory requirements for providing cause of death information.

Additional Information
MN VRV2000 was developed under the Vital Statistics Redesign Project, a five-year project from July 1997 through June 2002 for the collection, processing and reporting of birth and death information. Physicians, coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors use a web based application, and a client server based application is used by the local registrars and hospitals. Each year MN VRV2000 participants register over 38,500 deaths, and over 280,000 death certificates are issued each year in all of Minnesota’s 87 counties.

For more information about filing cause of death information electronically, please go to the Office of the State Registrar’s physician website at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/osr/physician-me/.

Editorial Notes: After successfully registering, change to a new password of your choice. Contact Gloria Haluptzok, 612-676-5044 or gloria.haluptzok@health.state.mn.us or Linda Luebchow, 612-676-5651, linda.luebchow@health.state.mn.us if you experience any difficulties with the application process. MAFP External Affairs Committee Chair, Terry Cahill, found MDH staff to be very helpful as he maneuvered through the system.