Funeral directors and funeral home staff are responsible for registering accurate and complete records of death. The Missouri Electronic Vital Records (MoEVR) system, operated by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services – Bureau of Vital Records, exists to support the electronic registration of vital records, such as death certificates, in Missouri.
Families need these official records to handle the final business of their loved ones. For example, they use them to receive insurance, veteran or retirement benefits.
To help grieving families, a funeral director must make sure every death record is perfectly accurate. Because of this important duty, funeral directors and funeral home staff play a vital role in the state's record system.
A death certificate is a permanent and official legal document. It proves that a person passed away and explains why they died. Funeral directors work closely with medical professionals to get the correct health details, certify and file these records with the Bureau of Vital Records.
Training Resources
Missouri Funeral Director/Home Training Guide
Missouri Electronic Vital Records (MoEVR) Training and Support
National Center for Health Statistics - Training and Instructional Materials
National Vital Statistics System
In the United States, the legal authority to register deaths lies within 57 jurisdictions (50 states, 2 cities and 5 territories). Death record information from the 57 jurisdictions is shared with the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is used to compile national mortality statistics which inform a variety of medical and health-related research efforts. Local and state public health agencies use information from the death record to assess community health status and for disease surveillance (e.g., drug overdose deaths, influenza, and other infectious diseases).
Why Go Electronic?
The benefits of being an electronically registered funeral director/home in MoEVR include:
- Quickly electronically start and register a death certificate anywhere, anytime
- Electronically send a death certificate to a medical certifier for certification with no travel time, personal contact, or mailing transit times
- Real-time prompts, edits, and mortality validations ensure both personal and medical information is not missing or incomplete delaying or preventing the registration of a death certificate
- Reduced registration lag times and decreased possibility of loss, theft, and fraud
Contact Bureau of Vital Records
The Missouri Bureau of Vital Records has field representative staff who travel the state training vital record data providers. Field staff can also arrange for telephone/web conference training calls.
If you are a vital record data provider (local county health agency, funeral home/director, hospital/licensed birthing center, county official, medical certifier, etc.) and would like to request a personalized training session or gain access to MoEVR, call 573-751-6387, option 4.