Articles
Fines of up to $1000 for electronic death registration scofflaws
A new state law calls for fines of up to $1,000 for any physician, PA or other qualified medical professional who fails to use the state's electronic system for completing death certificates.
The state introduced the NC Database for Vital Events (NC DAVE) to allow death certificates to be submitted online on a pilot basis in Fall of 2020 and implemented the system statewide in 2021. Initially, the NC Office of Vital Records stated that all death certificates were to be submitted via NC DAVE as of Jan. 1, 2022, but slow uptake among the clinicians who certify death certificates has caused the state to push the deadline multiple times, most recently to Sept. 1. If you are not yet registered to use NC DAVE do so now. Enter the code on the screen in the provided field on THIS PAGE to begin the NC DAVE enrollment process.
Session Law 2022-63 gives some teeth to the Sept. 1 deadline by establishing fines for medical certifiers - anyone who completes a death certificate - who "willfully and knowlingly" violate the law by continuing to use paper forms. The law indicates that a first offender may be assessed a fine of $250, while a second offense could result in a $500 fine. A third failure to use NC DAVE, and each failure thereafter, could result in a fine of $1,000 per instance of noncompliance. The law does not specify how fines would be assessed.
Avoid the risk of being fined for noncompliance by ensuring you are set up to use NC DAVE should the need to certify a death arise. When registering with NC DAVE, you may be asked to provide the name of your practice. If you do not see your facility listed, contact the NC DAVE help desk at (919) 792-5996 or email Joseph Watkins with NC Vital Records at joseph.watkins@dhhs.nc.gov.
The state introduced the NC Database for Vital Events (NC DAVE) to allow death certificates to be submitted online on a pilot basis in Fall of 2020 and implemented the system statewide in 2021. Initially, the NC Office of Vital Records stated that all death certificates were to be submitted via NC DAVE as of Jan. 1, 2022, but slow uptake among the clinicians who certify death certificates has caused the state to push the deadline multiple times, most recently to Sept. 1. If you are not yet registered to use NC DAVE do so now. Enter the code on the screen in the provided field on THIS PAGE to begin the NC DAVE enrollment process.
Session Law 2022-63 gives some teeth to the Sept. 1 deadline by establishing fines for medical certifiers - anyone who completes a death certificate - who "willfully and knowlingly" violate the law by continuing to use paper forms. The law indicates that a first offender may be assessed a fine of $250, while a second offense could result in a $500 fine. A third failure to use NC DAVE, and each failure thereafter, could result in a fine of $1,000 per instance of noncompliance. The law does not specify how fines would be assessed.
Avoid the risk of being fined for noncompliance by ensuring you are set up to use NC DAVE should the need to certify a death arise. When registering with NC DAVE, you may be asked to provide the name of your practice. If you do not see your facility listed, contact the NC DAVE help desk at (919) 792-5996 or email Joseph Watkins with NC Vital Records at joseph.watkins@dhhs.nc.gov.