Report 2023-110 Recommendation 6 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 #6 To: Public Health, Department of

To mitigate registration delays and ensure that all hospitals and funeral homes with a responsibility to complete their portions of fetal death certificates are able to rapidly fulfill their obligations, CDPH should, by June 2024, notify hospitals and funeral homes that lack access to its registration system for fetal deaths of their legal obligations in the fetal death registration process and provide instructions on how to access the data system used to fulfill those obligations.

6-Month Agency Response

VR has implemented this recommendation. VR identified a list of funeral home and medical facilities lacking access to the electronic fetal death registration system. VR sent physical letters out on May 25, 2024, to the identified organizations, notifying them of their statutory responsibilities regarding fetal death registration, and educating them on the availability and advantages of using electronic registration to meet those responsibilities. The letters also included instructions on how to gain access to the electronic registration system and training for their staff. VR plans to send letter out on an annual basis. (see CHSI Response Support - FDRM Audit - Funeral Homes.docx and CHSI Response Support - FDRM Audit - Medical Facilities.docx).

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

60-Day Agency Response

CDPH Vital Records (VR) staff plan to reconcile the user lists of the electronic fetal death registration system, funeral home, and medical facilities with the lists of licensed facilities in California. This process aims to identify organizations not currently using the electronic system for fetal death registration and encourage their participation. VR will notify the identified organization of their statutory responsibilities regarding fetal death registration, and the availability and advantages of electronic registration to meet those responsibilities, including instructions on how to gain access to the electronic registration system and provide training for their staff.

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

All Recommendations in 2023-110

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.