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FUNERAL DIRECTOR REGISTRATION TO EDRS
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If you are a licensed funeral director, you may signup for access to the EDRS application by clicking the register link below. Note: newly licensed funeral directors will not be able to use the online registration feature. Instead please fax the "Funeral Director's User Support Document" to ODH/VS for registration.
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------------------------------- FUNERAL HOME STAFF REGISTRATION TO EDRS
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If you need to be added to EDRS as a clerk for a funeral home, your licensed funeral director should request an account for you through the secure Support Site. For instructions, see the "EDRS Funeral Director Staff Registration Guide". You can also submit a paper request for an account with the approving signature of a funeral director.
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| Click here to reference the guide! |
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------------------------------- CORONER REGISTRATION TO EDRS
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Coroners must fax the "Coroners User Support Document" to ODH/VS for registration to EDRS. This form supplies required data (including unique email address) to ODH/VS in order to register coroners, deputy coroners and other coroner support staff.
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| Click here to register! |
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------------------------------- REGISTRAR CHANGES IN IPHIS-EDRS
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Local, Deputy and Sub- Registrar changes should be faxed to ODH/VS as soon as possible using the "Change of Registrar Appointment Request" form. Vital changes must be made in the IPHIS-EDRS application.
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| Click here to submit your change request! |
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------------------------------- HOSPITAL REGISTRATION TO EDRS
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Hospital staff can get clerk level access to EDRS in order to input death certificate information, for situations such as an infant death or body donation. Users must fax the "Non Funeral Director User Support Document" to ODH/VS, which supplies us with required information to setup or modify your access account.
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| Click here to submit your request! |
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------------------------------- BIRTH FACILITY REGISTRATION TO IPHIS
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Hospital staff access to IPHIS is controlled by a local Facility Administrator, who can request the creation/removal of user accounts within their facility through the secure Vital Support Site. For details, see the IPHIS User Management Easy-Step Guide. If a change to your Facility Administrator is required (each facility should have two for redundancy), complete the Facility Administrator Support Document and fax to ODH/VS.
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| Click here to submit your change request! |
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WELCOME TO THE VITAL SUPPORT SITE!
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This site is maintained by the Ohio Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics (ODH/VS) for business partners. External public customers with VS questions or interest in purchasing certified copies should contact ODH/VS customer service at (614) 466-2531 or reference the ODH website at http://www.odh.ohio.gov/vitalstatistics/vitalstats.aspx . Business partners should reference this site for varied types of information related to the registration of vital records, such as user registration forms and procedure manuals. Should you experience a problem while navigating the Support Site, please use the Site Feedback link at the bottom of the page. Should you have a procedural question or experience a problem while using the IPHIS-EDRS application, call our HelpDesk at (614) 466-2531 (option 3). The HelpDesk is available Monday-Friday from 8:00 AM-5:00 PM.
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REGISTRAR DIRECTORY UPDATED
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UPDATED! Click here to view the current version of the Ohio Registrar Directory, which contains contact information for all local vital records offices and their local, deputy and sub- registrars (April updates summarized on first page). The directory is updated on a monthly basis and reposted to the Support Site under "Contacts". For appointment changes, use our Change of Registrar Appointment Request template for the fastest processing. All changes should be submitted to your ODH/VS Field Service Unit. To access the contact information as submitted by specific funeral homes, visit the Ohio Funeral Directors Association website at www.ofdaonline.org and click on the left side of the page "Find a member". You can search by city and/or name to find the address and phone number of local business partners. For coroners, visit the Ohio Coroners Association website at www.osca.net/ohio_coroners.php
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FREE OF CONTAGIOUS DISEASE LETTER AND BRIEF GUIDANCE
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Funeral Directors, Coroners, Health Departments, and all related EDRS users: In the event a body is to be transported out of country for final disposition it is possible the officials of that foreign country will require a statement regarding the preparation of the body and whether the decedent died of a contagious disease. These types of letters are usually given to the Conculsate General of the country where the decedent is being tansported to for disposition. A generic example of said letter is here in a modifiable Word document. Please follow the verbiage included in the generic letter and modify as it pertains to your health district. Three copies of the letter are required and must contain original signatures by a health official from your district (usually the local registrar or health commissioner); it is imperative that the letter be notarized. Any questions can be directed to 614-466-2531 (option 3).
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LOG OF PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS
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Local and Deputy Registrars: Should you receive a request for data from a local governmental agency, you can fulfill that request directly with your local VS data or other files shared on this Support Site. You should log those requests on the “Log of Public Records Requests”. This log should be available to your VS Field Service Representative during your annual site visit.
Should you receive a request from a non-governmental agency (including attorneys, churches, private veteran organizations, etc.) for state level data, such as the decedent reports on this website, you should refer the requestor to the ODH HelpDesk to make the request directly to ODH. We will fulfill the public record request directly.
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LOCAL REPORTING OF V.S. CERTIFIED COPY FEE
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Local and Deputy Registrars: Please use the web reporting form to report total sales of certified copies from your district. Based on your report, invoices will be generated from our Office of Financial Affairs. Please return a copy of your invoice with payment. Web reports are due April 6. The Quarterly Summary of Sales Form is also available through the left main menu under "Local Registrar, Forms". The optional paper form can be used to seek local Board of Health approval for payment of fees prior to receiving an ODH generated invoice, which are generated from data submitted via the web reporting form. Click here to review a memo from ODH/VS regarding the quarterly fee reporting requirements.
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WHEN TO FILE A FOUNDLING REPORT
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A foundling report should be filed according to Ohio Revised Code 3705.11 when an infant of unknown parentage is found. If the facts of birth and parentage are available, a complete birth record SHOULD BE CREATED in IPHIS (for example, if a mother left on the second day of hospitalization after delivery without the infant, yet hospital retains identifying data). If you have questions about when to file a foundling report, please contact our HelpDesk at 614-466-2531, option 3.
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SURPLUS PROPERTY GUIDANCE
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Local VS Offices and related staff: In the event you have IT equipment for salvage, please click here to fill out the Surplus Property Turn-in Document and fax it upon completion to your field service representative @ 614-387-1291 who will subsequently coordinate with OMIS to facilitate the retrieval of the equipment via the salvage company. Please adhere to the following instructions when completing the document: FROM- this should be the Ohio Department of Health address @ 246 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43216 EXTERNAL CUSTOMER must fill out the following form details: a. contact person - include ODH External Customer Name/Company who will work with TechDisposal to establish pickup date/time b. phone number - ODH External Customer c. email address - ODH External Customer d. QTY - quantity (#) e. CONDITION - G: good, F: fair, P: poor, X: broken/non-repairable f. DESCRIPTION - include make/model (example: Dell Optiplex GX260; 15 inch flat panel monitor) g. serial number - located in several places to include back, front, top, side, and bottom h. asset tag number - this is Ohio Department of Health's Asset Tag Number ie. EDHXXXXXX Lighthouse Solutions Group will notify the Releasing Authority (contact person listed on State Surplus Property Turn-In Document) to set up date and time for retrieval of equipment. At this time they will also have several questions to include location, special arrangements and the like.
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DEATH RECORD REJECTION AND COMPLETION
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WHAT TO DO WHEN... Funeral Directors, Local Registrars: In the event an error is found on a recently filed death record and that error is one not preferred by the family to be changed by affidavit or supplemental, it is possible we at the HelpDesk can initiate the rejection of said death record for correction entry and subsequent reprint. Before a rejection can be considered, we must hear from the local registrar who filed the death record and be given a situational reason for the rejection request. If, at this point, the rejection is deemed warranted, we will ask that all issued certifieds be retrieved. We cannot reject any record until the certifieds are retrieved and in hand at the local office. Once we are contacted regarding the retrievals, we will reject the record to the funeral home for correction of noted entries and for them to reprint/resubmit to applicable certifier for signage. Below is a recap of event order applicable to the most common situation we see regarding rejection requests: 1. Funeral Home contacts Local Registrar of intent to have record rejected. 2. Registrar contacts HelpDesk. 3. HelpDesk agent warrants rejection and asks certifieds be retrieved. 4. Registrar contacts HelpDesk of certifieds' retrieval. 5. HelpDesk agent rejects record for correction, reprint, and presentation for signage to certifier. 6. Acts of correction, reprint, and signage are completed and record is presented to Registrar for filing. 7. Retrieved certifieds are destroyed upon filing of corrected death record. Please note that the certifier sign date must still descend sequentially with date of burial permit issued. Please note that the record will keep the local registrar number assigned at first filing. Please note that this process is not the preferred process in any case where a supplemental or affidavit can be facilitated with little or no impact to the family. These instructions are meant to clarify the process, not to promote it as a replacement process for other EDRS options. If you have inquiries at any point in this process, do not hesitate to call the HelpDesk at 614-466-2531 ( option 3 )
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APPROVING BURIAL/CREMATION PERMITS
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For local/deputy/sub - registrars: Permits for burial/cremation should not have a disposition date prior to the date you are approving the permit. It can be handwritten onto the record and entered into EDRS by the approving registrar. Also remember to check that the permit is assigned to you before approving.
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BIRTH AFFIDAVIT FAXING
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For local VS offices: Only birth affidavits should be faxed to ODH for approval before filing according to the affidavit review policy; do not fax death affidavits, legal name changes or other forms through the fax number. Make sure all local VS staff review the documents and maintain a copy of the quick reference guide. Should an issue arise regarding an affidavit correction in IPHIS, continue to communicate with the Special Reg Unit regarding the record as opposed to involving several units who might not have all the information about the record history.
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BIRTH ABSTRACTS
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For local VS offices: Abstract certificates should be reviewed for accuracy. Our office has heard from several customers who had a certificate confiscated by the Passport Office due to a missing filed date, but the original image did indeed have a file date. Please verify the abstract data matches the image before mailing to a customer. Abstract certificates should also be reviewed for completion. Other issues included missing parent information or missing first and middle names. If the first and middle name is missing, the customer should complete an affidavit. If a correction cannot be completed according to current policy, it is acceptable for the birth image to be issued to the customer. Our office has seen several cases in which an older birth record was filed with incomplete/incorrect information, and then a Name Supplemental provided more or corrected information. The Name Supplement was not meant to correct information, but it could meet customer needs when both pages are issued.
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DEATHS DOWNLOADED TO EDRS
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For local VS offices: Death data back to 1954 has been loaded into EDRS. LHD'S should now be able to view data for their district, but cannot see images or issue copies from EDRS at this time. Discussions have begun regarding possible access for issuance from EDRS. Birth/death matching has begun in IPHIS/EDRS. You should begin to see "Deceased" watermarks appearing on matched birth records. The matching information can be found on the "flags" tab. If a birth record was incorrectly matched or not matched and it should be, please submit the request via HelpSTAR as an abstract error.
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NEW PDF FORM CAN BE COMPLETED/PRINTED FOR BIRTH AFFIDAVIT
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Local Health Dept's: Click here to download the new birth affidavit PDF form, which you can type into and print on plain paper. This document can also be emailed to customers. Remember the affidavits should be signed and notarized before faxing to ODH for filing approval.
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NEW AFFIDAVIT GUIDELINES EFFECTIVE 10/3/2011
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Local VS Offices and related staff: Pursuant to the affidavit training that was offered and conducted by our Field Service Office regarding the new affidavit guidelines which became effective 10/3/2011, please make note and use of the following links: Click here to review and print a quick reference chart to be kept at the VS counter. Click here to review and reference a comprehensive procedure guide that will answer many of your anticipated questions. Click here to view the presentation shown during the live meeting sessions. Click here to view and then save and/or print the Fax Cover Sheet For Affidavits which one should format with information pertaining to location. This sheet will be used to fax the initiated affidavits for approval as outlined in the process effective 10/3/2011. Also, any person with access to IPHIS for the purpose of issuing certified copies should complete the new Affidavit Training Test. Each office should challenge itself to setting and achieving a completion date no later than the respective annually scheduled audit. If staff have inquiries regarding the quiz or the answers, post completion, they are encouraged to correspond with the assigned field service representative for clarification via email or by phone at 614-644-0156. Please note the Help Desk will be available to answer questions, as always, concerning the affidavit process, however, said Help Desk will not be able to check on the review status of faxed affidavits.
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NO SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN BIRTH/DEATH RECORD NAMES
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All IPHIS-EDRS Users: Do not enter special characters into first, middle or last name fields on birth or death records, with the exception of an apostrophe ( ' ) or hyphen ( - ) between letters (such as De'von or De-von). The electronic data of a special character with a tilde ( ~ ) or an accent directly above a letter has caused problems in data transmissions. When the state office transmits data to the SSA, ODJFS or NCHS, the special characters are not translated correctly. Should you have questions, please contact our HelpDesk at 614-466-2531, option 3.
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BIRTH UNLOCK REQUEST FOLLOW THROUGH
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WHAT TO DO WHEN... All applicable IPHIS users: In the event that a previously submitted unlock of a birth certificate under the IPHIS umbrella does not seem to have been answered notewise or facilitated by a VS HelpDesk agent in a timely manner, please double check said record to be sure that the Request > Corrections > Unlock pathway was tracked to the point of placing a 'Y' in the unlock box followed by a hard save. Placing a note on the record without adhering to the request unlock descent mentioned above will not place the birth record in the VS HelpDesk monitored queue and agents will be correctly unaware that said requests coupled with any specifics therein have been made.
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REMOVAL FROM STATE / BURIAL TRANSIT PERMIT
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WHAT TO DO WHEN... Funeral Directors and applicable funeral home staff: In the event of a decedent's disposition being entered as Removal From State, the date of disposition must be recorded as the date the body is removed from the state. If the final disposition at the destination of said decedent is cremation, it is possible the crematory will want further authoritative documentation in regards to the burial transit permit as it will be designated with the verbiage 'burial-no cremation'. In this case, the death certificate and the transit permit can be faxed with a cover letter to our Field Service office at 614-387-1291 and they will promptly respond with wording releasing the burial transit permit of its 'no cremation' parameters and thus making it allowable for said cremation. For further relatable inquiries, please contact the HelpDesk at 614-466-2531 (option 3).
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NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES IN COMMUNITY
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Local and Sub Registrars: Please be sure to inform Vital Statistics of any changes you may be privy to in your community regarding the moving, closure, or name change of a hospital. One can do this via the Facility Facts Change Request Form by clicking here. This information is essential to maintain an up-to-date database from which the IPHIS/EDRS dropdown selections are populated. If you notice an item on the dropdown list is not correct, please initiate the change by using the aforementioned and above linked form.
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CENTRAL ISSUANCE AND IPHIS IMAGE
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Local VS Offices: For new birth certificates recently registered by the Local Health Departments, the image will not be available until ODH receives and scans the certificate. Once the certificate is scanned and the image is downloaded, IPHIS users can click on ACTIONS, DISPLAY IMAGE/DOCUMENT to view the image.
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PRIVATE LEGAL REQUEST FOR RECORDS REQUIRES FEE
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Local Registrars: Many local offices have received a mail request from a private legal company requesting copies of records, but the request arrives without a fee and without an application, instead arriving on a subpoena court form. Unless the paperwork includes the name of the court, the name of the judge, a date and a court seal, it is not a valid subpoena. Click here to review an example of a recent inquiry; this company is willing to purchase certified copies upon further request. Should you receive a similar inquiry from the company or others like it, local offices can certainly contact the ODH/VS Field Service Unit for assistance by faxing a copy to 614-387-1291. If it is not a valid legal subpoena, the requesting company should instead submit a vital record application along with the required fee.
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TIP FOR SAVING DOCUMENTS FROM SECURE SUPPORT SITE
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Tip for all IPHIS-EDRS Users: When you sign into the secure Support Site through Citrix, all of the documents are encrypted in a manner that sometimes causes viewing discoloration and difficulty saving. When you choose to SAVE a document, Citrix refers to your local C: drive as a V: drive. So instead of saving it to your "Desktop", choose the V: drive as the destination. Then look through "My Computer" to find your true C: drive, where the document should have been saved.
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