Report 2023-110 Recommendation 4 Responses

Report 2023-110: California Department of Public Health: Process Improvements Could Help Reduce Delays in Completing Fetal Death Registrations (Release Date: February 2024)

Recommendation #4 To: Public Health, Department of

To better fulfill its duty to oversee the fetal death registration process, CDPH should, by June 2024, begin to hold meetings regularly with local registrars to identify and resolve issues related to fetal death registration. CDPH should include in such meetings representatives for parties involved in the registration process—such as hospitals, physicians, and funeral homes—as well as representatives from relevant licensing entities—such as the Medical Board and the Funeral Bureau—to obtain additional perspectives about ongoing causes for delays.

6-Month Agency Response

VR has fully implemented this recommendation. VR held the first Death/Fetal Death Registration workshop - a forum specific to discussing death and fetal death related registration issues. Representatives from all areas of the death/fetal death registration process were invited to attend, including local registrars, medical facilities, funeral homes, and licensing entities. Attendees were invited to provide feedback and suggestions for future meetings via a survey. Staff are currently reviewing the survey responses from this workshop. VR will send out the survey bi-annually and hold Technical Assistance meetings to resolve issues that are identified in the survey. VR intends to use the survey responses to identify topics for and frequency of future meetings and incorporate stakeholder feedback to improve compliance with fetal death registration processes. (see CHSI Response Support - Death_Fetal Death Registration Workshop Invite Email.pdf, CHSI Response Support - Death-Fetal Death Workshop - Attendee Report.xlsx, and CHSI Response Support - DFD Registration Workshop Agenda - 6.27.24.docx).

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

60-Day Agency Response

CDPH Vital Records (VR) currently holds quarterly meetings (Quarterly Local Jurisdiction Meeting) where stakeholders are invited to ask questions and discuss vital records topics, including the fetal death registration process. VR is planning on scheduling regular meetings specific to the fetal death registration process, for a narrower group of stakeholders (e.g., fetal death registration system users, representatives of Medical Board, Cemetery and Funeral Bureau) to discuss issues at a more granular level. VR intends to gather input from stakeholders to determine discussion topics and establish agendas for each meeting. VR will consider the topics submitted and provide guidance during the meeting. Stakeholders will have the opportunity to ask questions and request clarification on the topics discussed.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2023-110

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.