Legislation Change Regarding Doctors and Death Records

 

This is an informational notice about a new law. The main points of Senate Bill 23-020 are:   Mandate the use of EDR by physicians who sign death records. EDR is the Electronic Death Registration system. Mandate 3 business day completion by physicians, once a death record is designated. Mandate the Office of the State Registrar to provide a report to the Department of Regulatory Agencies, by physician, regarding the compliance with that timeline.   The final bill language may be viewed at https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-020.   Currently, 88% of all death records are fully electronic. Many physicians who sign death records have not yet signed up for an account to use the EDR system.  In an attempt to make this process easier and more efficient, an online form is now available for use at: https://fs8.formsite.com/cohealth/VRSystemAccess/index. This form is currently only for physicians.   We plan to provide this information directly to physicians currently signing the paper forms. We also are requesting that funeral establishments begin providing this information to physicians, when they are providing the paper forms.   The Electronic Death Registration (EDR) system is going to be combined with the overall, new vital event system, Colorado Vital Events System (COVES). The site address will be https://coves.colorado.gov effective January 2, 2023. We are communicating this directly with current users and those newly signing up.   Thank you for your assistance. If you have questions or concerns, please contact the Office of the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, Field Unit, at cdphe.edr@state.co.us.  .