Physicians are privileged to bear witness to some of the most important events in life -- including death.
If you work in a specialty in which you are EVER called upon to sign a death certificate, you probably are aware of the Texas law requiring that such certificates be completed electronically. To prepare for such an event, you need to register with the Texas Department of State Health Services AHEAD OF TIME. Once the death has occurred it's too late!
More than 100 physicians found themselves facing disciplinary action from the Texas Medical Board earlier this year for failing to comply with the law. It came to our attention that many doctors were unaware of the lag time between online registration and accessing the system; others had difficulty with the health department's registration process itself.
As a result, the Board dismissed pending disciplinary actions, refunded fines and has extended the grace period for registration through the end of the upcoming Legislative session.
It's important to note that electronic death certification is the way of the future -- the health department adopted this system because it is more secure than paper. Therefore, doctors can take advantage of this new grace period to sign up and work through any glitches with DSHS.
Here's the link again: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/requestTER/default.asp as well as an email for questions or problems: help-TER@dshs.state.tx.us
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