Medicolegal death investigations (MDIs), conducted by medical examiner and coroner offices, are crucial to understanding causes of deaths, monitoring evolving health challenges and ultimately saving lives. Funding and resources increase the ability for MDI offices to collaborate with internal and external data sharing partners to send and receive this integral information. 

To transform the MDI data landscape and reduce the resources needed by an MDI office to collaborate with data sharing partners, CDC is prioritizing data modernization. Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) is a standard created for healthcare data exchange. This standard can be used to achieve bi-directional exchange of data between MDI systems and data sharing partners. FHIR® improves data exchange while simultaneously reducing the burden of data entry.

During this initiative, selected MDI offices work collaboratively with other MDI offices, data sharing partners, vendors and FHIR® subject matter experts to use FHIR®-based data exchange to improve the efficiency of data transmission between MDI offices and data sharing partners.

Modernizing MDI data practices improves MDI office’s ability to investigate deaths, improves public health’s ability to monitor evolving health trends and creates data driven interventions to save lives without increasing burden on these offices. 

Our collaborating sites: 

• Alabama: Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office 
• Alaska: Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office  
• Georgia: DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office 
• Illinois: Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office 
• Indiana: Marion County Coroner's Office
• Michigan: Sparrow Office of Medical Examiner 
• Michigan: Wayne State University-Wayne County Office of the Medical Examiner
• Minnesota: Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office
• Mississippi: Mississippi Department of Public Safety
• Nevada: Clark County Office of The Coroner/Medical Examiner
• Ohio: Butler County Coroner's Office
• Pennsylvania: York County Coroner's Office
• South Carolina: Charleston County Coroner’s Office
• South Carolina: Greenville County Coroner's Office

This program is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $2,726,393 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government.