Office of Vital Registration and OET Human Remains Release Form Automation

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

Per Arizona Revised Statute 36-325 and Arizona Administrative Code R9-19-301, the Maricopa County Office of Vital Registration is responsible for collecting Human Remains Release Forms (HRRFs) from licensed healthcare facilities, funeral home partners, and the Office of the Medical Examiner within 24 hours of removal of a decedent’s remains. This essential form captures information allowing responsible parties (such as funeral homes and the Office of the Medical Examiner) to transport the remains within the state. The HRRF also contains pertinent medical information that is considered when determining a cause of death to help eliminate the possible destruction of evidence by cremation or burial as well as ensure that a potential public health concern does not exist. Historically, a paper-based manual workflow was used to collect and process HRRFs. Each form was received via a paper fax machine, printed out, and manually entered into an electronic database. The printed forms then each had to be sorted and filed both alphabetically by last name and by date of death. This manual process was cumbersome, time-consuming, and prone to human error. In order to be completed efficiently, this process required the efforts of one full time employee and up to three temporary employees as workflow volume increased. With an average of 360 HRRFs received per week, a great deal of resources was also spent on paper and ink. The Office of Vital Registration partnered with the Maricopa County Office of Enterprise Technology (OET) to implement a solution for automating the receipt and data entry of HRRFs using the OnBase Electronic Document Management and Workflow System (EDMS). Efficiencies gained with the automated solution resulted in savings of more than $86,000 annually.