Posted: January 29, 2007

As of February 1st, Sonoma County physicians:

1. No longer sign the actual death certificate; but
2. Will certify death certificates using Remote FAX or Voice Attestation.

How Remote Attestation Works

The funeral home will fax an attestation copy of the death certificate to the physician. The Physician Attestation Copy is identical to the death certificate. The physician reviews the cause(s) of death contained on the Physician Attestation Copy.

FAX Attestation: After review of the cause(s) of death, the physician signs on field 115 of the attestation copy of the death certificate. The physician or their staff then faxes it back to the toll-free CA-EDRS fax server. This certifies the medical information included on the death certificate.

Voice Attestation: After review of the cause(s) of death, the physician calls the toll-free CA-EDRS Interactive Voice Response System and follows the instructions. The physician: 1) enters the death certificate record number and voice attestation number; and 2) states that he or she certifies the death certificate copy is correct. This certifies the medical information included on the death certificate.

Additional information on EDRS and remote attestation is available at http://www.edrs.us/edrs/index.jsp or questions may be directed to the Office of Vital Statistics at 707-565-4407.

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