CO SB020

Reduces the filing deadline for death certificates from five days to seventy-two hours of assuming custody of a dead body, stillborn fetus, or dead fetus, with exceptions for coroners and medical examiners conducting inquiries.

Requires physicians to complete medical certifications for death certificates within seventy-two hours of receiving an electronic death registration request, with extensions available if unable to meet the deadline for reasonable cause.

Establishes an electronic death registration system that physicians, coroners, medical examiners, and forensic pathologists must use by March 1, 2024, with the state registrar providing monthly reports to the Department of Regulatory Agencies on untimely completions.

Designates a primary care physician as responsible for medical certification if the decedent had an established primary care relationship, the death appears natural, and no inquiry is required by statute.

Makes repeated or willful failure without reasonable cause to timely complete a death certificate's medical certification constitute unprofessional conduct subject to disciplinary action by the Colorado Medical Board, effective March 1, 2024.