Vancouver, WA ‒ Clark County Public Health has replaced a 100-year-old paper process for collecting death records with the state’s new Electronic Death Records System. Funeral directors, physicians, the Clark County Medical Examiner and local deputy registrars now can use a secure website to complete and approve death records without making a trip to the Public Health department.

The new system improves service. For example, a paper record takes about 90 days to reach the state for analysis. The electronic system reduces the process to about five days. Faster reporting improves communication among those who file and may be useful for real-time monitoring of health issues such as influenza. Families also may be able to obtain death certificates for loved ones more quickly.

In addition to improving timeliness, the new system improves the quality of death records data. It prompts users to review and correct spelling errors, acronyms, omissions in required data fields and other problems before records can be submitted. This reduces the need for Public Health to seek clarification from medical certifiers or funeral directors many months after a death.

Faster death notification also helps government agencies, such as the Social Security Administration, that pay public benefits to stop payments and avoid the cost of recovering overpayments. Other government agencies also rely on timely death notifications to update administrative files such as voter rolls.

For more information about the Electronic Death Record System, contact Belinda Walker at belinda.walker@clark.wa.gov or (360) 397-8058.

CONTACT
Belinda Walker
Clark County Public Health
(360) 397-8058
belinda.walker@clark.wa.gov