Bill Text: MO HB2074 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to develop and maintain an electronic death registration system
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-26 - Public Hearing Completed (H) [HB2074 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2014-HB2074-Introduced.html
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES WHITE (Sponsor), COX, WILSON, SCHIEBER, BROWN, BERRY, HANSEN, DAVIS, JONES (110), SOMMER, ELMER, MCCAHERTY, BARNES, FREDERICK, ZERR, TORPEY, HOSKINS, SHUMAKE, CROSS, SHULL AND BURLISON (Co-sponsors).
5962H.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 193.145, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to an electronic death registration system.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 193.145, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 193.145, to read as follows:
193.145. 1. A certificate of death for each death which occurs in this state shall be filed with the local registrar, or as otherwise directed by the state registrar, within five business days after death and shall be registered if such certificate has been completed and filed pursuant to this section. All data providers in the death registration process, including, but not limited to, the state registrar, local registrars, the state medical examiner, county medical examiners, coroners, funeral directors or persons acting as such, embalmers, sheriffs, attending physicians and resident physicians, and the chief medical officers of licensed health care facilities, and other public or private institutions providing medical care, treatment, or confinement to persons, shall be required to use and utilize [any] the electronic death registration system required and adopted under [subsection 1 of section 193.265] this section within six months of the system being certified by the director of the department of health and senior services, or the director's designee, to be operational and available to all data providers in the death registration process. [However, should the person or entity that certifies the cause of death not be part of, or does not use, the electronic death registration system, the funeral director or person acting as such may enter the required personal data into the electronic death registration system and then complete the filing by presenting the signed cause of death certification to the local registrar, in which case the local registrar shall issue death certificates as set out in subsection 2 of section 193.265.] By September 1, 2015, the department of health and senior services shall develop an electronic death registration system. The electronic death registration system shall utilize a secure login for data providers, but shall not require data providers to change their authentication data including, but not limited to their user identification or password more than once annually and shall provide a secure mechanism for data providers to regain access to the system via a “forgot password” function in the event such providers are unable to recall their authentication data. Nothing in this section shall prevent the state registrar from adopting pilot programs or voluntary electronic death registration programs until such time as the system can be certified; however, no such pilot or voluntary electronic death registration program shall prevent the filing of a death certificate with the local registrar or the ability to obtain certified copies of death certificates under subsection 2 of section 193.265 until six months after such certification that the system is operational.
2. If the place of death is unknown but the dead body is found in this state, the certificate of death shall be completed and filed pursuant to the provisions of this section. The place where the body is found shall be shown as the place of death. The date of death shall be the date on which the remains were found.
3. When death occurs in a moving conveyance in the United States and the body is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the death shall be registered in this state and the place where the body is first removed shall be considered the place of death. When a death occurs on a moving conveyance while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air space and the body is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the death shall be registered in this state but the certificate shall show the actual place of death if such place may be determined.
4. The funeral director or person in charge of final disposition of the dead body shall file the certificate of death. The funeral director or person in charge of the final disposition of the dead body shall obtain or verify:
(1) The personal data from the next of kin or the best qualified person or source available; and
(2) The medical certification from the person responsible for such certification.
5. The funeral director shall enter the personal data under subdivision (1) of subsection 4 of this section into the electronic death registration system within one business day of receipt of the information. Upon entry and completion of the personal data in the electronic death registration system, the system shall automatically notify the physician in charge of the patient’s care for the illness or condition which resulted in death using an electronic notification as determined by the department. The medical certification shall be completed, attested to its accuracy [either by signature or] by an electronic process approved by the department, and returned to the funeral director or person in charge of final disposition within [seventy-two hours after death] three business days of the electronic notification by the physician in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which resulted in death. If the physician is unable to complete the medical certification due to exigent circumstances including an immediate or long-term absence or illness, the physician shall complete the medical certification as soon as practicable, or in the absence of the physician or with the physician's approval the certificate may be completed and attested to its accuracy [either by signature or an] by the approved electronic process by the physician's associate physician, the chief medical officer of the institution in which death occurred, an individual to whom the physician has delegated authority to complete the certificate, or the physician who performed an autopsy upon the decedent, provided such individual has access to the medical history of the case, views the deceased at or after death and death is due to natural causes. [The state registrar may approve alternate methods of obtaining and processing the medical certification and filing the death certificate.] The Social Security number of any individual who has died shall be placed in the records relating to the death and recorded on the death certificate.
6. Any physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or other medical professional who in good faith completes a medical certification of death or determines the cause of death shall be immune from civil liability only for such certificate completion or determination of cause of death, absent gross negligence or willful misconduct.
7. When death occurs from natural causes more than thirty-six hours after the decedent was last treated by a physician, the case shall be referred to the county medical examiner or coroner or physician or local registrar for investigation to determine and certify the cause of death. If the death is determined to be of a natural cause, the medical examiner or coroner or local registrar shall refer the certificate of death to the attending physician for such physician's certification. If the attending physician refuses or is otherwise unavailable, the medical examiner or coroner or local registrar shall attest to the accuracy of the certificate of death [either by signature or an] by the approved electronic process within thirty-six hours.
[7.] 8. If the circumstances suggest that the death was caused by other than natural causes, the medical examiner or coroner shall determine the cause of death and shall complete and attest to the accuracy [either by signature or an] by the approved electronic process the medical certification within seventy-two hours after taking charge of the case.
[8.] 9. If the cause of death cannot be determined within seventy-two hours after death, the attending medical examiner or coroner or attending physician or local registrar shall give the funeral director, or person in charge of final disposition of the dead body, notice of the reason for the delay, and final disposition of the body shall not be made until authorized by the medical examiner or coroner, attending physician or local registrar. If determination of the cause of death is prolonged because further testing is necessary or other exigent circumstances, the certificate of death shall be completed within six months after death.
[9.] 10. When a death is presumed to have occurred within this state but the body cannot be located, a death certificate may be prepared by the state registrar upon receipt of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction which shall include the finding of facts required to complete the death certificate. Such a death certificate shall be marked "Presumptive", show on its face the date of registration, and identify the court and the date of decree.
11. If a certificate of death is not filed with the local registrar or state registrar within five business days after death, the state registrar shall upon request issue a provisional certificate of death. Upon filing of the certificate of death with the local registrar or state registrar, the state registrar shall issue a certificate of death. After the certificate of death has been completed, any person who has obtained a provisional certificate of death may obtain a copy of the completed certificate of death at no charge.
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