SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION - AVSS TAG MEETING
Automated Vital Statistics System Technical Advisory Group
Core Members:
Natlee Hapeman –
Michael Rodrian - Center For Health Statistics
Mark Starr - Division of Communicable Disease Control
Ronald Williams -
1. Introduction By
Attendees and Opening Statements.
Review of summary
from
2 Planning for Version 4.12.
Version 4.12 is the name for the 2002 version, which will be released early
in 2003. Version 4.12 is presently being alpha tested and will be beta tested
in January 2003. Release Notes were distributed at the meeting and can be
viewed on the Web at http://www.avss.ucsb.edu/release.htm
Some more significant changes in Version 4.12 were reported. For example, ICD10
will replace ICD9 in the Death Record cause of death fields, more flexible
rules for entering fetal death data, hospitals connected to LRD databases will
be able to view the nonconfidential portions of registered birth certificates
for births that occurred in their facility, a new 464-byte ASCII output file is
available for CMRs, and a number of user-suggested improvements have been
incorporated.
3. AVSS Modification Requests (AMRs): Review and Discussion.
02-086: Desiree Schaan of
02-096: Since the death certificate will be changing in 2003 (see below)
there is a need to consider changing the AVSS electronic form (the CDC) to
conform to the new paper form. After some discussion TAG decided to
a. Add and prompt for a new Also Known As (AKA) field.
b. Education (Field 13) will allow both numeric and alphabetical entries to
conform to the new death certificate instructions.
c. Race will be Field 16 instead of 14 and will allow multiple entries in the
same way as the birth certificate.
d. A new field (113A) will be added and prompted to record if the decedent was
pregnant within one year of death.
e. A program will be developed to reset the changed fields (13, 14, 15, 16,
113, 113A/B) for historical data.
02-106: John Marinko suggested that due to recent enhancements in the
List To Be Sent To Health Department suboption that we remove the removed in a
future version of AVSS. TAG agreed that would be a good idea.
4. New Statutes and their affect on AVSS.
Mike Rodrian presented a summary of legislation enacted in 2002, as
reported in All-County Letter 02-08. Mike reported on:
AB 1139, Title: Death Certificates; Author: Thompson; Filed with Secretary of
State 09/24/2002
AB 1773, Title: Personal Identifying Information; Author: Wayne; Filed
09/26/2002
AB 1872, Title: Coroners: Certificate of Death; Author: Canciamilla; Filed
09/20/2002
AB 2550, Title: Electronic Death Registration; Author: Nation; Filed 09/25/2002
AB 2837, Title: Safety in Employment; Author: Koretz; Filed 09/26/2002
SB 17, Title: Human Remains: Vital Records; Author: Figueroa; Filed 09/23/2002
SB 247, Title: Restricted Access to Vital Records; Author: Speier; Filed
09/26/2002
SB 1254, Title: Identity Theft; Author: Alpert; Filed 08/26/2002
SB 1614, Title: Birth and Death Indices; Author: Speier; Filed 09/19/2002
Mike also indicated that a separate All-County Letter will be issued for each
legislative bill, and he briefly reviewed all All-County Letters issued in
2002.
Pat Andrews announced that workshops for 2003 would be held at
5. New Death Certificate and Electronic Death Registration.
This topic was addressed in All-County Letter 02-09. Alan Oppenheim presented
the revisions to the death certificate. Those revisions are displayed in the
attached chart.
In response to questions about use of the worksheet on the back of the death
certificate, Alan indicated that DHS prefers that the worksheet be used as a
reference, without any written entries. He indicated, though, that writing that
does not interfere with the legibility of the death certificate would be
acceptable.
Alan presented information on interim procedures for data entry for the
optional pending death certificate program.
Ron informed the group that
Ron advised the group that AVSS/NET will be used for communication, in lieu of
dial-up modems.
Mike presented an overview of the benefits of county participation in the EDR
pilot. He indicated that OVR will meet with health departments, funeral
directors, and coroners in those counties that wish to participate in the
pilot.
Ron announced that Gail Cayton is leaving AVSS in February 2003 for a position
with the US Department of State, and Glen Nishida has been hired for the
position vacated by Gail.
6. New Birth Certificate in 2005?
Mike discussed Task Force and stakeholder meetings being conducted in
preparation for changes in the birth certificate in 2005. The federal
government has issued a model birth certificate, which is available on the NCHS
website. Mike advised the group that each element in the birth certificate is
mandated by statute, so any changes will require legislation to be enacted.
7. Future of AVSS, including AVSS/NET.
The description of AVSS/NET is available on the AVSS website. A handout
describing AVSS/NET was distributed to the group. Ron reviewed the background
to AVSS/NET and the benefits of the system. Several counties are currently
operating AVSS/NET or in the process of installing the program:
8. Confidential Morbidity Report (CMR).
Stan Bissell presented information on the CMR, based on materials handed
out at the meeting (see below). AVSS release notes describe changes in CMR.
9. Equipment/operating system recommendations.
This topic was deferred to a later meeting.
10. AVSS technical assistance.
The group was advised that meeting materials included a table displaying
amounts paid by each LRD for AVSS technical assistance from FY 96-97 through FY
02-03 (to date).
11. New topics.
Meeting adjourned at
Acknowledgement: This summary was
written by Jessica McCarroll.
Certificate of Death
Revision – VS -11 (Rev 1/03)
Chart of Major Changes
|
As discussed in All
County Letter 02-09, the following fields have been added, deleted or
revised: |
|
|
AKA Also known as |
This item has been added
to reduce the number of amendments and therefore to make complete, certified copies
available on a more timely basis. Include the full AKA (first, middle, and
last name). |
|
13 Education |
This item has been
revised to include a brief narrative description of the level of completed
education. To standardize the descriptions, please use the worksheet located
on the back of the certificate to gather information that best describes the
highest degree or level of school completed at the time of death. Enter the
education information on the front of the certificate in |
|
14/15 Was decedent
Spanish/Hispanic/Latino? |
This item now precedes
the Decedent’s Race item. Please use the worksheet located on the back of the
certificate to gather standardized information on Spanish/Hispanic/Latino
origin. |
|
16 Decedent’s Race |
This item now follows the
Spanish/Hispanic/Latino item. Please use the worksheet located on the back of
the certificate to gather standardized information on decedent’s race. Note: Usual Employer
information (formerly item 16) is no longer collected. |
|
22 County/Province |
This item has been
revised to collect Canadian Provinces in addition to |
|
44 Name of funeral
establishment |
This item has been
revised. The title of the field has been renamed from "name of funeral
director" to "name of funeral establishment" to appropriate
identify the request for name of funeral establishment. |
|
103 If other than hospital,
specify one |
This item has been
revised to rename facilities and add hospice and decedent’s home. The
categories are now: hospice, nursing home/LTC, decedent’s home, and other. |
|
107 Cause of death |
Although the legend
"DO NOT ABBREVIATE" has been added, acceptable abbreviations will
not result in certificate rejection by the local registration district or by
the State Registrar. Acceptable abbreviations are listed in the handbook. |
|
113A If female, pregnant in
last year? |
This item has been added.
AB1139 requires that a death certificate include information indicating
whether the decedent was pregnant at the time of death, or within the year
prior to death, if known, as determined by observation, autopsy, or review of
the medical records in order to determine pregnancy. Allowable entries for
female decedents are: Yes, No, and Unknown. Please leave this item blank for
male decedents. |
CMR Topics - AVSS TAG December 17, 2002
Stan Bissell, Acting Chief, Surveillance and Statistics Section,
(916) 445-5948; sbissell@dhs.ca.gov;
http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ps/dcdc/dcdcindex.htm
1. SSS Updates
-- Budget: State shortfalls; CDC Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response program
-- CMR form revisions and full regulation (Title 17 sec. 2500, 2505, etc.)
changes still pending (comments welcome)
-- Reminder: Case report forms available in PDF format (view/print only; many
are now fillable)
on our web-site (above) - Click on Publications, then scroll to FORMS
section and click on the link; Username: cdforms, Password: broadstreet
-- Electronic document management system for case history forms now operational.
Backlog of case review is diminishing.
-- 1999-2000 CD Report still in progress (this report will include some
narratives).
-- Electronic laboratory-based reporting (ELR) / California Electronic
Laboratory disease Alert and Reporting (CELDAR) system: Pilot system targeted
for operation by end of Summer. CDC bioterrorism funding.
-- National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS): Grant-funded (CDC)
project to use data and architecture standards in surveillance systems
-- SSS will be moving to the new "East End Complex," tentatively
scheduled for May 2003.
-- About to phase in automated e-mail LHD-specific weekly feedback reports for
morbidity reports received by SSS (example handout and initial sign-up sheet).
2. Old Business
-- 3rd "Annual" Morbidity Meeting (CMR Users Group),
-- AVSS-CMR: AVSS foreign data import – pilot plans?
AVSS CMR output file
Combined AVSS/Reporting Manual – still a good idea, no recent progress.
