Certifying a Death in Vermont
Death Certification Tutorial
On July 1, 2008 Vermont implemented an Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS). With the move to the EDRS, completion of a death certificate occurs in one of two ways. If a physician is an enrolled EDRS user, then he or she will complete and certify the medical portion of a certificate online.
If a physician is not an EDRS user, then reporting is done using a Preliminary Report of Death (PROD) paper form. Once complete, this form is forwarded to the funeral director who will submit it to the Vermont Department of Health where the information you have provided will be entered into the EDRS to produce a death certificate. More information regarding the process including the PROD form, is available on the EDRS web site. Regardless of the reporting method, the information a physician is required to provide when certifying a death is the same.
The items required in reporting a death and which are included on the Vermont certificate of death are derived primarily from the US Standard Certificate of Death. Although all the states vary slightly in information they collect, the Cause of Death section, which must be completed by the
certifying physician is quite similar in each of the 50 states.
Certifying Physicians in Vermont are primarily responsible for completing four sections of the certificate. This tutorial will walk through these sections.