| Description |
In the United States,death information is derived from the death certification process.Each state maintains its own registration system that collects, validates, and archives deaths in their states (Tripp, Duncan, Finch, and Huff, 2015). Death certificates are a permanent legal record of death that provides a simple description of what led to the death of the individual (CDC, 2019; CDC, 2015). Death reporting is critical for assessing the health of populations but, unfortunately, there are threats to the quality of data accuracy, timeliness and efficiency in death certification. Carter, Holt, and Haskins(2019)summarized research findings of multiple studies in the United States and found that the rate of inaccuracies in death certificates ranged from 33% to40%, including major errors (e.g. incorrect cause of death, incorrect manner of death)and minor errors (e.g. illegibility, incompleteness, technical errors).In a 2018 study to identify challenges to the death registration process and quality of that information, Texas Health and Human Services found that errors occurred when certifiers incorrectly identified cause of death, and there was a lack of training. In addition, they identified inefficiencies within the data collection process requiring coordination among multiple people filling out the death registration form.There is an opportunity to automate the process of death reporting in facilities where workflows use both paper and electronic formats. By moving from paper to electronic formats and combining electronic health record (EHR)data with a web-based electronic death reporting system (EDRS), there are opportunities to meet the goal to improve accuracy,timeliness and efficiency of death reporting. |
