NYS EDRS NEWSLETTER
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Issue April-May 2017
EDRS Website—A Wealth of Training
Resources and Information
The Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS) section of the NYS
Department of Health website has an amazing amount of information,
training resources, and documentation. The website is updated
frequently, so be sure to bookmark the site and visit often!
EDRS W ebsite – https://www.health.ny.gov/vital_records/edrs/
On the website you can register for live Internet-based courses,
launch pre-recorded Webinars and self-paced video tutorials,
download the EDRS User Manual and other documents such as
Quick Reference Guides, special procedures, a Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ) guide with tips for how to use EDRS most
effectively, information on getting CEU or CME credit for attending
EDRS training, and more.
Keep an eye on the new Announcements box on the home page to
see what’s new and upcoming. Check back often so you are sure not
to miss important updates, procedures, and problem-solving
strategies.
New Time-Out Setting in HCS
An updated security feature in the Health Commerce System (HCS)
will affect users of the Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS).
HCS serves as the portal to get into EDRS.
Your HCS session will now time out after 15 minutes of idle time. Idle
time is when you have not used the computer keyboard or mouse in
that time period. You will get a 5-minute warning in advance before
your session times out.
If your session times out, then to resume work in EDRS you will need
to log back into HCS and relaunch EDRS. When you see the 5minute warning, you will be able to resume activity at that time to
avoid getting logged out of the system, or you can extend the timeout period by clicking the Stay Connected button in the warning box.
As long as you are actively working on your computer, your session
will not time out, and you will be able to continue working in EDRS.
Best Practice: For privacy and security, don’t leave a case
unattended. If you are going to be away from your computer or focus
on other tasks, you should save your work and log out of EDRS.
1
Key Dates
Completed
March 2016
 Region 2 went live in
EDRS—3/20/2017
April 2017
 County Registrars and EDRS
Implementation Team attend NYS Town
Clerk’s Association annual conference in
Rochester—4/24-27/2017
May 2017
 Region 3 go-live in EDRS—5/1/2017
 Partnership kick-off with HANYS,
GNYHA, Iroquois Healthcare, and
NYSDOH—-5/5/2017 marks the first of a
series of programs for members
Upcoming
 6/12/2017 Region 4 go-live in EDRS
 Summer 2017 Social Security Number
Online Verification will be added to EDRS
 8/2017 Region 5 go-live in EDRS
 9/2017 NYSDOH will begin testing the
EDRS Spontaneous Fetal Death module
 10/2017 Fetal Death User Group will test
system and provide feedback
Ongoing Training
 3rd Tuesday of each month— Medical
Certifiers and Funeral Firms
 3rd Wednesday of each month—Local
Registrars and Sub-Registrars
 Self-paced tutorials and recorded
Webinars available on the EDRS
Website
Contact the EDRS Team: Call Center 1-844-866-EDRS (3377) | Email [email protected]
Get Information, Training and Documentation at http://www.health.ny.gov/vital_records/edrs
NYS EDRS NEWSLETTER
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Issue April-May 2017
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From the Director’s Chair
As part of our on-going efforts to enhance the dissemination of EDRS-related information and
outreach to health care providers across New York State, the NYS Department of Health Bureau of
Vital Records has partnered with other Department of Health staff to broaden our outreach to other
important stakeholders — three health care trade organizations:
 Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS)
 Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA)
 Iroquois Healthcare
The associations were excited to partner with us and offered their assistance to our efforts. Their
representatives provided input on the messaging contained in the Bureau of Vital Records
presentation, and have offered on-going assistance to the EDRS Program.
The immediate result of this partnership is a co-hosted webinar about the EDRS implementation and
process, held on May 5th, 10:00–11:30 a.m. This webinar presentation was delivered by Bureau of
Vital Records staff to members of HANYS, GNYHA, and Iroquois Healthcare.
Our sincere thanks to the staff of HANYS, GNYHA, and Iroquois Healthcare, and to our colleagues in
the NYS Department of Health, for advancing our progress with the EDRS!
Robert ‘Jake’ Locicero
New York State Registrar
Director, New York State Vital Records
22 Counties Are Using EDRS
Fast Facts
Cases filed electronically using EDRS,
as of May 10, 2017
EDRS users trained by attending
live courses
Outreach phone calls made each week
from EDRS team members to initiate account
set-up
Outreach emails sent out each week by
EDRS team to provide HCS & EDRS account
set-up instructions
Counties live in EDRS
The following counties are using EDRS to electronically create and
file death certificates:
Albany
Allegany
Cattaraugus
Chautauqua
Dutchess
Erie
Genesee
Monroe
Montgomery
Nassau
Niagara
Onondaga
Orange
Orleans
Putnam
Rockland
Schenectady
Suffolk
Sullivan
Ulster
Westchester
Wyoming
Region 4 will go live in EDRS in June 2017. EDRS is currently processing natural deaths that occur in a health care facility, which is
about 80% of the deaths in New York State. We will expand the case
load to include unattended and unnatural deaths later this year when
Medical Examiners and Coroners begin using the system.
Contact the EDRS Team: Call Center 1-844-866-EDRS (3377) | Email [email protected]
Get Information, Training and Documentation at http://www.health.ny.gov/vital_records/edrs
NYS EDRS NEWSLETTER
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Issue April-May 2017
EDRS Tech Talk
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(Continued from previous column)
For Hints, Turn on Tool Tips
EDRS has tool tips on many fields
throughout the system, popping up
on-the-spot coaching when you
mouse over the field. You can turn
the tool tips on and off in the EDRS Help menu.
We recommend you keep tool tips turned on for the first
several weeks that you are using EDRS. We update tool
tips periodically, so it’s a good idea to occasionally turn
them back on even if you have been using EDRS for several months.
Tips for Finding an Existing Case in EDRS
The Medical professional should start the case in EDRS. If
you are a funeral director or medical staff looking for an existing EDRS case, at first you should use the Start/Edit New
Case search screen, but if you can’t find the case at
first, don’t click the Start New Case button on the search
results page. That will create a duplicate case. Instead, try
to find out exactly how the decedent’s name was entered
into EDRS when the case was created. You may want to
ask the originator of the case to provide you with a Working
Copy so you can see how the Decedent’s information was
entered in EDRS.
cate, generating a print-out of the Death Certificate with incomplete information. Drop to Paper is only used for EDRS
cases in which the next person who needs to access
the case is not yet set up in EDRS. Drop to Paper is only
available after the case has been medically certified.
If a case has been Dropped to Paper, that will be noted in
the status line at the top of any page in the case.
Note to Medical Providers—If you Drop to Paper, be sure
to provide the Drop to Paper print-out to the funeral firm, not
a Working Copy print-out.
Funeral Directors—Don’t Fill in the Name of
the Local Registrar
On the Disposition page in EDRS, do not fill in the name of
the Local Registrar.
If you complete these fields, then no one else in the Registrar’s office will be able to access the case in the event that
a Deputy or Sub-Registrar are processing it. This could
cause a delay in registration and issuance of the burial
transit permit. The Registrar or Sub-Registrar’s name will
automatically be filled in by EDRS when they open the case
to review and register it.
When you find the case in the search results list, click the
hyperlinked decedent’s name to open the case for editing.
Short Cut: After you or your facility/office own a case,
you can search for it using the Locate Case screen instead
of Start/Edit New Case. Locate Case allows you to search
on just one or two criteria instead of the four required on the
Start/Edit New Case screen. The Locate Case also lets you
use the wildcard character (percent symbol %) after or before search criteria to increase the range of possible matches. For instance, you can enter just a few letters of the decedent’s last name followed by the wildcard %. That will find
all cases owned by your facility in which the decedent’s last
name starts with those letters.
Working Copy v. Drop to Paper
Working Copy is a print-out or Acrobat® PDF file of an
incomplete, draft version of the death certificate. The Working Copy is available to all EDRS users at any point in the
process. The Working Copy contains a “watermark” message on the left margin indicating it is not the official copy.
The medical facility should provide a Working Copy to the
funeral firm to help them find the case in EDRS. The Working Copy will show the funeral director how the decedent’s
information was entered into EDRS, so they will know how
to search for the case.
Drop to Paper is a case status setting that ends the
electronic process, forcing the case to be completed on
paper. Drop to Paper replaces a triplicate form death certifi-
Registrars – Don’t Fill in the Local File Date
When you Affirm the case, EDRS automatically fills in the
Local File Date and registers the case. But to accommodate any off-line issuance of the burial transit permit, the
Local Registrar can later edit the Local File Date and the
name of the person in your office who issued the Burial
Transit Permit. If you enter a Local File Date manually before Affirming the case, you will not be able to Affirm and
thus, not be able to electronically sign the case.
NYC Funeral Firms—Get Your HCS Accounts
To Use NYS EDRS
New York City Funeral Directors doing business in New
York State outside of NYC need to get access to NYS
EDRS. You will need to request an account in the NYS
Health Commerce System (HCS), as well as request that
your funeral firm be set up HCS.
To request your HCS user account and your Funeral Firm’s
HCS set up, please complete the following online surveys:
1. Set up your Funeral Director’s HCS account:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6X2WX2B
2. Set up your Funeral Firm in HCS:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WDYSSC5
(Continued in next column)
Contact the EDRS Team: Call Center 1-844-866-EDRS (3377) | Email [email protected]
Get Information, Training and Documentation at http://www.health.ny.gov/vital_records/edrs
NYS EDRS NEWSLETTER
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Issue April-May 2017
4
(Continued from previous column)
Online Verification of SSN
Coming Soon in EDRS
As announced in the February 2017 edition of the EDRS
Newsletter, online verification of Social Security Number
(SSN) is coming this summer to EDRS. This feature is an
automated service from the Social Security Administration.
Funeral Firms will be able to verify SSN right on the EDRS
Decedent page. SSN verification will check that the
decedent’s first and last names, sex, date of birth, and
social security number all match what is on record at the
Social Security Administration.
Verification may take a few moments, during which you
will be able to continue working in EDRS. Refresh the
Decedent page to check the status of verification—
PENDING, VERIFIED, or FAIL. If it fails, you can correct
information and resubmit for verification up to six times.
Once verified, funeral firms will no longer need to submit
(Continued in next column) Form SSA-721 to the Social Security Administration.
Please respond promptly to all emails from
NYS Department of Health to be sure you are
ready to use EDRS when your region goes live.
To prepare for go-live, stakeholders need to get HCS and EDRS user accounts and roles set up and
attend training before their go-live date. To be sure you will be ready to start using EDRS on your go live date, please respond promptly to emails from NYS Department of Health.
To get started, visit the EDRS website: http://www.health.ny.gov/vital_records/edrs/
Contact the EDRS Team: Call Center 1-844-866-EDRS (3377) | Email [email protected]
Get Information, Training and Documentation at http://www.health.ny.gov/vital_records/edrs