Vital Records FHIR Messaging (VRFM) IG
1.1.0 - ci-build

Vital Records FHIR Messaging (VRFM) IG, published by CDC NCHS. This guide is not an authorized publication; it is the continuous build for version 1.1.0 built by the FHIR (HL7® FHIR® Standard) CI Build. This version is based on the current content of https://github.com/nightingaleproject/vital_records_fhir_messaging_ig/ and changes regularly. See the Directory of published versions

June 2022 Testing Event Examples

Description of Testing Process

This page illustrates the use of the profiles in the Vital Records Messaging IG using the records from the June 2022 NCHS Testing Event. The intent is to show the complete content of communication between a jurisdiction and NCHS for each of the three test records.

We will illustrate using the first test decedent, Twila Hilty, but the process and artifacts are the same for the second and third test decedents.

The testing process proceeds as follows:

  1. The jurisdiction (MA) generates Death Record 537 based on the data in the Record 1 column of the spreadsheet, and then builds Death Record Submission Message 537 and sends this to NCHS via the NCHS Messaging API.
  2. NCHS receives the message, and sends Death Record Submission Acknowledgement 537 to the jurisdiction for receipt of that message; you can tell what message is being acknowledged by comparing the MessageHeader.response.identifier in the acknowledgement to the MessageHeader.id of the original message.
  3. Some time later, NCHS sends Cause of Death Coding Message 537 to the jurisdiction, and the jurisdiction responds with Cause of Death Coding Message Acknowledgement 537
  4. Some time later, NCHS sends Demographic Coding Message 537 to the jurisdiction, and the jurisdiction responds with Demographic Coding Message Acknowledgement 537

Test Input in Spreadsheet Form

The specification of tests for the June 2022 Testing event was provided in this spreadsheet.

Pos Length Descr Var Record  1 Record 2 Record  3 Notes
1 4 Date of Death–Year DOD_YR 2022 2022 2022  
5 2 State, U.S. Territory or Canadian Province of Death - code DSTATE CT CT CT  
7 6 Certificate Number FILENO 000001 000002 000003  
14 12 Auxiliary State file number AUXNO ␢ ␢ ␢  
26 1 Source flag: paper/electronic MFILED 0 2 0  
27 50 Decedent’s Legal Name–Given GNAME Twila Fidelia Davis  
77 1 Decedent’s Legal Name–Middle MNAME R ␢ ␢  
78 50 Decedent’s Legal Name–Last LNAME Hilty Alsup Lineberry  
128 10 Decedent’s Legal Name–Suffix SUFF ␢ ␢ Jr  
139 50 Father’s Surname FLNAME Brown Dill Lineberry  
166 50 Middle Name of Decedent DMIDDLE Roxanne ␢ ␢ This data element was added to test one ‘Must Support’ eexample.
189 1 Sex SEX F F M  
191 9 Soc-Sec-Num S S N 531869507 478151044 429471420  
200 1 Decedent’s Age–Type AGETYPE 1 1 2  
201 3 Decedent’s Age–Units AGE 020 62 010  
204 1 Decedent’s Age–Edit Flag AGE_BYPASS 0 0 0  
205 4 Date of Birth–Year DOB_YR 2002 1960 2021  
209 2 Date of Birth–Month DOB_MO 01 02 03  
211 2 Date of Birth–Day DOB_DY 01 29 04  
213 2 Birthplace–Country BPLACE_CNT US US US  
215 2 State, U.S. Territory or Canadian Province of Birth - code BPLACE_ST CT CA
(California)		 CO  
217 5 Decedent’s Residence–City CITYC 37000
(Hartford)		 13014
(Chico)		 45050
(Laramie)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
222 3 Decedent’s Residence–County COUNTYC 003
(Hartford)		 007
(Butte)		 001
(Albany)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
225 2 State, U.S. Territory or Canadian Province of Decedent’s residence - code STATEC CT CA
(California)		 WY These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
227 2 Decedent’s Residence–Country COUNTRYC US US US  
229 1 Decedent’s Residence–Inside City Limits LIMITS Y Y Y  
230 1 Marital Status MARITAL S
(Never Married)		 A
(Married but Separated)		 S
(Never Married)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
231 1 Marital Status–Edit Flag MARITAL_BYPASS 0 0 0  
232 1 Place of Death DPLACE 1
(Inpatient)		 3
(Dead on Arrival)		 1
(Inpatient)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
233 3 County of Death Occurrence COD 001 001 001 [The actual county name will depend on the State of Occurrence]
236 1 Method of Disposition DISP B
(Burial)		 O
(Other)		 B
(Burial)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
237 2 Date of Death–Month DOD_MO 01 03 01  
239 2 Date of Death–Day DOD_DY 10 16 17  
241 4 Time of Death TOD 1000
(10:00am)		 1040
(10:40am)		 1823
(6:23pm)		 The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
245 1 Decedent’s Education DEDUC 8
(Doctorate)		 4
(Some College)		 1
(No Education)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
246 1 Decedent’s Education–Edit Flag DEDUC_BYPASS 0 0 0  
247 1 Decedent of Hispanic Origin?–Mexican DETHNIC1 N N N  
248 1 Decedent of Hispanic Origin?–Puerto Rican DETHNIC2 N H
(Yes)		 N These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
249 1 Decedent of Hispanic Origin?–Cuban DETHNIC3 N H
(Yes)		 N These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
250 1 Decedent of Hispanic Origin?–Other DETHNIC4 N N N  
251 20 Decedent of Hispanic Origin?–Other, Literal DETHNIC5 ␢ ␢ ␢  
271 1 Decedent’s Race–White RACE1 Y
(Yes)		 N Y
(Yes)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
272 1 Decedent’s Race–Black or African American RACE2 N Y
(Yes)		 N  
273 1 Decedent’s Race–American Indian or Alaska Native RACE3 N N Y
(Yes)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
274 1 Decedent’s Race–Asian Indian RACE4 N N N  
275 1 Decedent’s Race–Chinese RACE5 N N N  
276 1 Decedent’s Race–Filipino RACE6 N N N  
277 1 Decedent’s Race–Japanese RACE7 N N N  
278 1 Decedent’s Race–Korean RACE8 N N N  
279 1 Decedent’s Race–Vietnamese RACE9 N N N  
280 1 Decedent’s Race–Other Asian RACE10 N N N  
281 1 Decedent’s Race–Native Hawaiian RACE11 N N N  
282 1 Decedent’s Race–Guamanian or Chamorro RACE12 N N N  
283 1 Decedent’s Race–Samoan RACE13 N N N  
284 1 Decedent’s Race–Other Pacific Islander RACE14 N N N  
285 1 Decedent’s Race–Other RACE15 N N N  
286 30 Decedent’s Race–First American Indian or Alaska Native Literal RACE16 ␢ ␢ Cheyenne  
316 30 Decedent’s Race–Second American Indian or Alaska Native Literal RACE17 ␢ ␢ ␢  
346 30 Decedent’s Race–First Other Asian Literal RACE18 ␢ ␢ ␢  
376 30 Decedent’s Race–Second Other Asian Literal RACE19 ␢ ␢ ␢  
406 30 Decedent’s Race–First Other Pacific Islander Literal RACE20 ␢ ␢ ␢  
436 30 Decedent’s Race–Second Other Pacific Islander Literal RACE21 ␢ ␢ ␢  
466 30 Decedent’s Race–First Other Literal RACE22 ␢ ␢ ␢  
496 30 Decedent’s Race–Second Other Literal RACE23 ␢ ␢ ␢  
574 1 Decedent’s Race–Missing RACE_MVR ␢ ␢ ␢ May provide a value for this item if required by your system; it is optional for NCHS.
575 40 Occupation – Literal (REQUIRED) OCCUP Teacher Carpenter Infant  
618 40 Industry – Literal (REQUIRED) INDUST Education Construction Never Worked  
661 6 Infant Death/Birth Linking - birth certificate number BCNO ␢ ␢ 001023  
667 4 Infant Death/Birth Linking - year of birth IDOB_YR ␢ ␢ 2021  
671 2 Infant Death/Birth Linking - State, U.S. Territory or Canadian Province of Birth - code BSTATE ␢ ␢ CA
(California)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
689 4 Date of Registration–Year DOR_YR ␢ 03 ␢  
693 2 Date of Registration–Month DOR_MO ␢ 18 ␢  
695 2 Date of Registration–Day DOR_DY ␢ 2022 ␢  
701 1 Manner of Death MANNER N
(Natural)		 A
(Accident)		 P
(Pending)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
976 1 Was Autopsy performed AUTOP N N U
(Not Classifiable)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
977 1 Were Autopsy Findings Available to Complete the Cause of Death? AUTOPF X
(Not Applicable)		 X
(Not Applicable)		 U
(Not Classifiable)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
978 1 Did Tobacco Use Contribute to Death? TOBAC U
(Not Classifiable)		 U
(Not Classifiable)		 N These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
979 1 Pregnancy PREG 2
(Pregnant at time of death)		 8
(Not Applicable)		 8
(Not Applicable)		 These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
980 1 If Female–Edit Flag: From EDR only PREG_BYPASS 0 0 0  
981 2 Date of injury–month DOI_MO ␢ 03 ␢  
983 2 Date of injury–day DOI_DY ␢ 16 ␢  
985 4 Date of injury–year DOI_YR ␢ 2022 ␢  
989 4 Time of injury TOI_HR ␢ 1015
(10:15am)		 ␢ The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
993 1 Injury at work WORKINJ ␢ Y
(Yes)		 ␢ These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
994 30 Title of Certifier CERTL D
(Certifying Physician)		 P
(Prononuncing and Certifying Physician)		 ␢ This is a hybrid field.  Codes D, P and M are most commonly used.  Full text is used when another individual is legally allowed to certify.  May be left blank.
1025 12 Auxiliary State file number AUXNO2 ␢ ␢ ␢  
1037 30 State Specific Data STATESP ␢ 20220101 ␢  
1067 2 Surgery Date–month SUR_MO 01 ␢ ␢  
1069 2 Surgery Date–day SUR_DY 10 ␢ ␢  
1071 4 Surgery Date–year SUR_YR 2022 ␢ ␢  
1075 1 Time of Injury Unit TOI_UNIT ␢ ␢ ␢  
1485 10 Decedent’s Residence - Street number STNUM_R 4437 1829 2722 This is Address Style 1 (parsed fields).  Use this style if available, or Address Style 2 if the individual components are not available
1495 10 Decedent’s Residence - Pre Directional PREDIR_R North ␢ N  
1505 28 Decedent’s Residence - Street name STNAME_R Charles Main Pin Oak  
1533 10 Decedent’s Residence - Street designator STDESIG_R Avenue St Dr  
1543 10 Decedent’s Residence - Post Directional POSTDIR_R Southeast ␢ ␢  
1553 7 Decedent’s Residence - Unit or apt number UNITNUM_R Apt 2B ␢ ␢  
1560 28 Decedent’s Residence - City or Town name CITYTEXT_R Hartford Chico Laramie Always submit these parsed components no matter which Address Style is used
1588 9 Decedent’s Residence - ZIP code ZIP9_R 06107 95926 82070  
1597 28 Decedent’s Residence - County COUNTYTEXT_R Hartford Butte Albany  
1625 28 Decedent’s Residence - State name STATETEXT_R Connecticut California Wyoming  
1653 28 Decedent’s Residence - COUNTRY name COUNTRYTEXT_R United States United States United States  
1681 50 Long string address for decedent’s place of residence same as above but allows states to choose the way they capture information. ADDRESS_R 4437 North Charles Avenue Southeast Apt 2B 1829 Main St 2722 N Pin Oak Dr This is Address Style 2 (combined address).  Use this only if Address Style 1 is not available
2109 50 Place of Injury- literal POILITRL ␢ Street ␢  
2159 250 Describe How Injury Occurred HOWINJ ␢ Unrestrained ejected driver in rollover motor vehicle accident ␢  
2409 30 If Transportation Accident, Specify TRANSPRT ␢ DR
(Driver/Operator)		 ␢ These are coded data elements. The text in parenthesis is provided only for user clarity.
2542 120 Cause of Death Part I Line a COD1A Cardiopulmonary arrest Blunt head trauma Pending  
2662 20 Cause of Death Part I Interval, Line a INTERVAL1A 4 Hours 30 Minutes ␢  
2682 120 Cause of Death Part I Line b COD1B Eclampsia Automobile accident ␢  
2802 20 Cause of Death Part I Interval, Line b INTERVAL1B 3 Months 30 Minutes ␢  
2822 120 Cause of Death Part I Line c COD1C ␢ Epilepsy ␢  
2942 20 Cause of Death Part I Interval, Line c INTERVAL1C ␢ 20 Years ␢  
2962 120 Cause of Death Part I Line d COD1D ␢ ␢ ␢  
3082 20 Cause of Death Part I Interval, Line d INTERVAL1D ␢ ␢ ␢  
3102 240 Cause of Death Part II OTHERCONDITION   Hypertension, Depression, Migraine ␢  
4430 1 Blank for One-Byte Field 1 PLACE1_1 Y ␢ ␢  
4431 1 Blank for One-Byte Field 2 PLACE1_2 ␢ ␢ ␢  
4432 1 Blank for One-Byte Field 3 PLACE1_3 ␢ ␢ ␢  
4433 1 Blank for One-Byte Field 4 PLACE1_4 ␢ ␢ ␢  
4434 1 Blank for One-Byte Field 5 PLACE1_5 ␢ ␢ ␢  
4435 1 Blank for One-Byte Field 6 PLACE1_6 ␢ ␢ ␢  
4436 8 Blank for Eight-Byte Field 1 PLACE8_1 ␢ 00000033 ␢  
4444 8 Blank for Eight-Byte Field 2 PLACE8_2 ␢ ␢ ␢  
4452 8 Blank for Eight-Byte Field 3 PLACE8_3 ␢ ␢ ␢  
4460 20 Blank for Twenty-Byte Field PLACE20 ␢ ␢ 043-A-110234  

Record 1 - Twila Hilty

Seq# JSON Content Direction
1 Death Record 537 EDRS to NCHS
1 Death Record Submission Message 537 EDRS to NCHS
2 Death Record Submission Acknowledgement 537 NCHS to EDRS
3 Cause of Death Coding Message 537 NCHS to EDRS
4 Cause of Death Coding Message Acknowledgement 537 EDRS to NCHS
5 Demographic Coding Message 537 NCHS to EDRS
6 Demographic Coding Message Acknowledgement 537 EDRS to NCHS

Record 2 - Fidelia Alsup

Note: Coding for the cause of death for this record cannot be done automatically, so codes of M99.9 are returned.

Seq# JSON Content Direction
1 Death Record 538 EDRS to NCHS
1 Death Record Submission Message 538 EDRS to NCHS
2 Death Record Submission Acknowledgement 538 NCHS to EDRS
3 Cause of Death Coding Message 538 NCHS to EDRS
4 Cause of Death Coding Message Acknowledgement 538 EDRS to NCHS
5 Demographic Coding Message 538 NCHS to EDRS
6 Demographic Coding Message Acknowledgement 538 EDRS to NCHS

Record 3 - Davis Lineberry

Seq# JSON Content Direction
1 Death Record 539 EDRS to NCHS
1 Death Record Submission Message 539 EDRS to NCHS
2 Death Record Submission Acknowledgement 539 NCHS to EDRS
3 Cause of Death Coding Message 539 NCHS to EDRS
4 Cause of Death Coding Message Acknowledgement 539 EDRS to NCHS
5 Demographic Coding Message 539 NCHS to EDRS
6 Demographic Coding Message Acknowledgement 539 EDRS to NCHS