What the Health Department cyber-attack means for you when requesting a death certificate
Weeks after Florida’s health department learned its vital statistics system had been hacked by cyber-thieves, the scenario for families seeking funeral services is “chaotic,” says Crystal Van Orsdel Marchant, assistant vice president at Van Orsdel Funeral & Cremation Service.
The problem?
The servers are not online and that has interrupted funerals and made it more difficult for people who need to obtain death certificates. These documents are required for processing bank account changes, filing insurance claims or updating Social Security benefits.
“To facilitate continued operations of death certificates, the department has worked closely with funeral homes and health care facilities to implement offline procedures during this period,” Florida Department of Health spokeswoman Jae Williams told News Service of Florida this week.
It’s not just death certificates that are the problem. The hackers also captured from the state Health Department Floridians’ recent HIV test results, detailed doctors’ notes and immunization and virus testing records.
READ MORE: Hackers released Floridians’ sensitive health records online. Here’s what was exposed
Why death certificates are important
A completed death certificate by the practitioner who attended to the deceased is required for legal purposes including probating estates, insurance claims, Social Security, veterans benefits and retirement benefits, according to the state. The death certificate is also used by Florida to monitor leading causes of death, injuries, suicide and homicide related deaths, infant deaths or occupational related deaths.
What if you need to plan a funeral now
What does this mean for you if you need to arrange a funeral right now? “There will be delays in the process of obtaining the death certificate,” said Van Orsdel Marchant, whose funeral home is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
How long are the delays?
The usual processing time was three to five days and then it could take a week to 10 days to receive the death certificate. Van Orsdel Marchant said the delay in getting a death certificate will be about an extra week or so.
“Even though the state and everyone is trying to come up with processes that can be as efficient as possible, the fact that we are on a manual system and not a completely automated system as we were before, adds time to the process because of many different factors. There are many entities involved, State Department of Vital Statistics, funeral homes, doctors, local medical examiner’s office, local Bureau of Vital Statistics, U.S. Social Security Administration. Everyone is having to learn a new process and adapt as we keep getting updated instructions.”
KNOW MORE: Hacker group claims it breached Florida Department of Health system, demands payment
What does it mean for customers who purchased services from a funeral home?
The aftermath of the cyber-attack means that all funeral homes in Florida are experiencing delays in obtaining death certificates.
What should you do right now?
Customers can take some steps to make it easier.
Said Van Orsdel Marchant: “If someone in Florida has lost a loved one recently, around or after June 27, they should confirm that the funeral home properly notified Social Security. If the funeral home was not able to do so because the Electronic Death Registration System system went down, they should request a SSA-721 Statement of Death by Funeral Director form from the funeral home and fax, mail or deliver it in person to the Social Security Administration.”
Visit www.ssa.gov for information.
What obstacles can you expect?
Expect delays in the processing and receiving of a death certificate. Social Security is not being notified electronically. Customers should confirm if the funeral home is doing this task for them or if they must fax, mail or notify in person. People can expect significant delays when calling or visiting the local Bureau of Vital Statistics in regards to ordering death certificates, Van Orsdel Marchant said.
