Electronic Local Registration

“Never Sign a Death Certificate Again”

TERdeath.texasvsu.org
 Registration - Birth
TER-participating local registrars can use the system for a variety
of functions.

Local Registrars can only retrieve those records that are

associated with their registration district.
Local Registrars can create birth records for the following types
of non-institutional births:
-Home Births
-Foundling
-Born at Non-Participating Facility
-Born En Route to Non-Participating Facility
 Local Registrar Work Queue
Once a birth record is batch printed and has a corresponding State File
Number assigned, the system routes the electronic data to the associated
Local Registrar Work Queue.

The Local Registrar retrieves the birth record from the queue and
subsequently assigns a Local Registrar Number/Local File Date and prints the
record for the local’s files.

TER retrieves the record to the screen where the Local Registrar responds to
the following fields:
- Local File Number
- Local File Date

TER provides the capability to print the birth certificate. The system also
supports a mechanism to reprint the birth certificate should the initial print be
unsuccessful.
 Local Registrar – Records Acceptance

Click on Queues
then Records
Acceptance.
 Local Registrar – Records Acceptance

Choose a file
from the ‘Current
Record’ pick-list
 Local Registrar – Records Acceptance

Assign your
local file
number and
local file date
to the record,
then click
‘Save’.
 Local Registrar – Records Acceptance
Choose the
“Print” icon

After the
certificate is
successfully
printed,
complete the
Local
Registrar’s
signature
item, then
index and
issue as
usual.
Birth Certificate (Local Version)
Registering Death Certificates
 Record Types
Local Registrars who participate in TER will
handle processing up to three types of death
certificates.

Drop-to-Paper
Manual Electronic
(DTP)

Local Registrar
 What is a Manual Death Certificate?

A ‘Manual’ death record is an 8 ½ x 14 inch (legal size)

printed Certificate of Death form that includes:

• Statistical Information (items 43-49)

• Includes printed information on the back

• Not completed using TER software

• Has not been issued an ‘EDR’ or ‘DTP’ number

 This is the 8 ½ x 14 inch (legal size)
‘Certificate of Death’ manual form.

Statistical
items (43-49)
 Manual Death Certificate

Funeral Home Medical Certifier Local Registrar

The Funeral Home manually completes the Certificate of Death

(8 ½ x 14) form. Once the funeral director’s portion is
completed, it will physically be routed to the Medical Certifier.
The funeral director will report the event to Social Security
Administration by completing the SSA-721 form. After medical
certification is completed, the record will physically be routed to
the Local Registrar for filing and issuance. The funeral director
can place an order for certified copies there.
 Manual Death Certificate

This is the current

registration process for
filing manual death
certificates.
Local Registrar Processing
• Accept completed manual death certificate
from funeral home.

• Review for completeness & accuracy.

• Log into TER by clicking on icon on

your computer.

• Type your User ID and

Password
 Under
‘Processing’,
click ‘Death’

This screen is
called the Main
Menu.
Under Functions,
click Local
Registration

This screen is
called the Death
Menu.
Click New
Record

This is the ‘Registration Screen’

 This is the
‘New Screen’
The ‘New Screen’ captures information needed
to check to see if the record may already be in
the system. If the record is already in the
system it will be retrieved instead of creating a
new record.
Enter Date
of Death
 Tab to
advance
Re-enter Date
of Death
Click OK
 Enter Social
Security Number
if applicable
Select Type
of Place of
Death
 If ‘Decedent’s Home’ is selected
for Type of Place of Death, enter
the street address of the residence
where the person died on the next
item, Place of Death. Otherwise,
select Place of Death from the drop-
down pick list.
Select Place
of Death
 TER is now searching the
database for any existing
records. If an existing record is
found, the following message Select Find
Record
will generate.
The duplicate cross check message will appear
when information on one of the key fields
matches an existing record already in TER.
This might happen if an existing record
contains wrong information such as the wrong
SSN. Clicking ‘OK’, allows you to add your
record even though it appears to match an
existing record.
If no duplicate records
are found, the
following message will
generate.
Click OK
 Note, ‘New Screen’
data items
automatically populate
onto the ‘Registration
Screen’
 Select
Record Type
Save to initiate Social
Security Verification
process
Incorrect Social Security Numbers represent a large percentage of the
amendments made to death records. The SSN verification that is built
into the TER death registration process sends information to the Social
Security Administration to verify that the number on the record
matches other information about the decedent that is on file with
Social Security. A response is sent back when saving for the second
time to indicate if the number matches the information on file or if it
does not agree with one or more items.
 Note SSN status
after save
Note EDR #
Assigned

Click OK
 Do not file the record
before receiving a Social
Security response.
 Skip Local Skip Local
File Number File Date
 Complete all other
unresolved items shaded
yellow while awaiting a
Social Security
Verification response.
Select Date of
Death Type
Select State or
Foreign County
of Birth
If State or Foreign County
is not listed, select ‘Add
New’ at the end of the list
to add new ‘State/Foreign
Country’ to list.
 Enter ONLY the First and Last
Names for Mother and Father. Do
NOT include middle names or
suffixes.
Save record

After
For a all items
record have
that been
passes
resolved,
social saveverification,
security the record a
second time.‘PASSED’
the status The socialwill
security
be
response
displayedshould
under be back.
Social
Security Number.
 Attempt to Theverify the information
following messagewith the
funeral home. Upappear
will to fivefor
attempts
a failedcan occur
per record. If thesocial
record cannot be verified,
security
file it by assigning a local file number and
verification.
local file date. Do not delay filing.
Assign Local
File Number
Assign Local
File Date
Save to Release
Record

All items are now complete, the

record is ready to be released to
the state.
 Click YES to
Release Record
 Complete the registration process by
filing the manual paper death record
and assigning the same file number and
date, a local registrar’s signature and
issuing certified
Click Ok copies.
 Record Types
Local Registrars who participate in TER will
handle processing up to three types of death
certificates.

Drop-to-Paper
Manual Electronic
(DTP)

Local Registrar
 What is a Drop-to-Paper Death
Certificate?
A ‘Drop-to-Paper’ (DTP) death certificate is an 8 ½ x 11 inch
(standard size) printed Certificate of Death form that:

• Has been completed using TER software

• Not ‘fully electronic’ because the medical certifier or
funeral home is not using TER
• Does not contain printed information on the back
• Includes an ‘EDR’ and ‘DTP’ number
• Excludes printed statistical information; items (43-49)
 This is the 8 ½ x 11 inch (standard size)
Certificate of Death ‘DTP’ form. It
contains an ‘EDR’ & ‘DTP’ number.

Electronic Death
Registration Number Drop-to-Paper
Number
EDR 000000000271 DTP. NO 1
 Under
‘Processing’,
click ‘Death’

This screen is
called the Main
Menu.
Under Functions,
click Local
Registration

This screen is
called the Death
Menu.
Click Search
Icon

This is the ‘Registration Screen’

The ‘EDR’ (Electronic Death Record) number will appear on
the lower left-hand corner of a paper death certificate that is
printed from TER. If this number is present on the paper
certificate being entered it means that the record is definitely
in the system This is the ‘Search
and therefore Screen’
not a manual record. Providing
the EDR number will insure that the matching record will be
found and then little if any additional data entry will be
needed. Type EDR
If there # EDR number present, exit this screen
is no
and refer to the Manual Death Certificate Processing
instructions.
TER is now searching the database
for the record. If the record is
found, it will be displayed.

Click ‘Find’
Select the record from the list below.
 Click on ‘Select
Record(s)’
Click on
record
Compare the DTP number on the paper to the DTP number on
the screen to make sure that you have the most recent version of
For a ‘FAILED’
the ‘drop-to-paper’ response,
form. The DTP number attemptis thetocount that
verify
represents The the information
theselected
number with
of timesis that
record thethe funeral
‘Drop-to-Paper’
retrieved. Verify death
certificate
home. hasUp
that abeentoprinted.
social five This
attempts
security number also
has prints
can occur
verification per on the
been
paper record.
copy of the ‘Drop-to-Paper’
If the
initiated and record cannot
a ‘PASSED’ death becertificate.
verified,This
or ‘FAILED’
number would be ‘1’
response is for records that are in the system that were
present.
file it by assigning a local file number
printed on paper to be filed. If the number is more than ‘1’ it
and local
may mean file
that the date. did
original Donot not delay
print filing.
correctly due to a
printer problem. A count of more than ‘1’ on a routine basis
from a location might invite a fraud investigation.
Enter Local
File Number
Enter Local
File Date
 Save to
release record

All items are now complete, the

record is ready to be released to
the state.
Select ‘Yes’
Click ‘OK’
Complete the registration process by
filing the DTP death record and
assigning the same file number and
date, a local registrar’s signature and
issuing certified copies.
 Record Types
Local Registrars who participate in TER will
handle processing up to three types of death
certificates.

Drop-to-Paper
Manual Electronic
(DTP)

Local Registrar
 What is an Electronic Death Certificate?

An ‘Electronic’ death record is one that is completed entirely

in TER by the Funeral Director, Medical Certifier and Local
Registrar. It requires:

• Demographic Data Entry which initiates the record in TER, assigns the
appropriate medical certifier, and assigns the appropriate local registrar.
The medical certifier is notified by email of the record in TER awaiting
their completion.

• Medical Certification is the electronic equivalent of placing a signature

on a paper form. When the medical data entry is complete, the medical
certification process is accessed by the medical certifier to apply their
PIN to the record.
 What is an Electronic Death Certificate?
continued . . .
An ‘Electronic’ death record is one that is completed entirely
in TER by the Funeral Director, Medical Certifier and Local
Registrar. It requires:

• Demographic Verification which finalizes the duties of the funeral

home by electronically signing the record and releases the record to the
local registrar for processing.

• Local Registrar ‘Record Acceptance’ will contain death records that

have been electronically signed by the medical certifier (medically
certified) and electronically signed by the funeral director
(demographically verified) and that still need to have a local file number
and file date assigned.
 Local Registrar Processing

• Log into TER by clicking on icon

on your computer.

• Type your User ID and

Password
 Under
‘Processing’,
click ‘Death’

This screen is
called the Main
Menu.
Under Queues,
click Local
Acceptance

This screen is
called the Death
Menu.
Under Queues,
click Local
Acceptance

Use ‘Local
Acceptance’ to
process an Electronic
Death Record ONLY.
 Under Queues,
click Local
Acceptance

An ‘Electronic Death Record’ is a death certificate that has

been completed by the funeral home and medical certifier
respectively using TER and has now reached the local
registrar for filing. Completing the local registrar process
requires selecting the record from the work queue, assigning
a local file number, local file date, printing the death certificate
and releasing it electronically to the state.
This is the ‘Registration Screen’
 Select record from
‘Work Queue’

The ‘Work Queue’ will contain death records that have been
electronically signed by the medical certifier (medically certified) and
electronically signed by the funeral director (demographically
verified) and that still need to have a local file number and file date
added. The list in the work queue will be in order of date of death
with the oldest records at the top. A record will remain in the work
queue until it is Declined, Rejected or Accepted.
 Select record from
‘Work Queue’

The ‘Records In Queue’ status number should match up with the

number of records in the ‘Work Queue’. The user can refer to
‘Records In Queue’ to see the number of death records that are not
yet fully processed.
The record will populate once it has been
selected from the ‘Work Queue’. Notice
that a social security response is present.
Click the ‘Decline
Record’ icon
Note the Place of Death. If the
death did not occur in your
registration area, you must
electronically ‘Decline’ the record.
Click ‘Yes’
 Enter the reason for
declining the record

Click ‘Submit
Reason’
The next record in the queue
will populate.
Assign Local Assign Local
File Number File Date
Save to Release
Record

Click ‘Yes’ to
Release Record
After release, the record will print
automatically. Complete the
registration process by filing it.
This is the electronic local version of the death
certificate.
The It willhas
funeral home include a printed
already placedlocal file
an order
number, local file
for certified date via
copies andTER
printed
and‘Registrar-
will be
City of ( to ),
mailed Electronically
them Filed’
from the state. signature.
Additional
Complete the filing
certified copies mayprocess
by soldby
toprinting the
the public.
record and assigning a local register signature.
Do not submit a copy to the state.
 Click on
‘Burial Transit
Permit’
A Burial Transit Permit may be printed
by selecting the ‘Print’ icon while the
record is displayed on the screen.
Click on
Print icon

Issue the Burial Transit Permit to the

funeral home as requested.
VS Contacts
Patricia Hosey
East Texas Area Representative
(512) 458-7111 ext. 2580
Patricia.Hosey@dshs.state.tx.us
Victor Farinelli
North Texas Area Representative
(512) 458-7111 ext. 3651
Victor.Farinelli@dshs.state.tx.us
Albert Rivera
South & West Texas Area
Representative
(512) 458-7111 ext. 2949 or 7372
Albert.Rivera@dshs.state.tx.us
Roger Faske
Team Leader
Texas Area Representative
(512) 458-7111 ext. 2530
Roger.faske@dshs.state.tx.us
Website

Vital Statistics
www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs

Field Services
www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/field

Help E-mail
Help-TER@dshs.state.tx.us
 Thank you!
TER-Death questions or comments
should be directed to:
Help-TER@dshs.state.tx.us