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Committee advances bill to let physician assistants pronounce deaths and sign death certificates
Summary
The House Health Committee voted to release HB224, which would authorize physician assistants in Delaware to pronounce death and complete death certificates, with supporters saying the change would reduce delays and ease pressure on physician resources. The bill moves to the full House after unanimous committee support.
Representative Johnson told the House Health Committee she sponsored House Bill 224 to amend Titles 16 and 24 to permit physician assistants (PAs) to pronounce death and sign death certificates in Delaware, arguing the change would reduce delays for grieving families and improve efficiency when physicians are unavailable.
"House Bill 224 allows physician assistants to pronounce death and sign death certificates in Delaware," Johnson said, noting the amendment also makes technical corrections to align code sections and that the measure has letters of support from hospital and PA organizations.
Christina Bridal, vice president of external affairs for the Delaware Health Care Association, testified the association supports HB224 and said allowing PAs to perform these tasks can "help reduce delays that can occur when a physician is not immediately available, particularly in the hospital and emergency department settings."
Meridel from the Division of Public Health's Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics explained current workflows: funeral directors enter demographic information into the state's electronic registration system and then assign the medical portion to the health care professional who treated the decedent. Meridel said the bureau supports amending Title 16, Section 3,123 to allow PAs to certify the medical section and that doing so would improve the timeliness of death-certificate completion.
Bethany Mello, chair of ChristianaCare's Advanced Practice Clinician Council, and Brad Hudson of the Delaware Academy of Physician Assistants described clinical situations in which PAs were trained and ready to certify deaths but were constrained by the present code, creating distressing delays for families and inefficient use of scarce physician time.
After public testimony and brief committee discussion, Representative Haloski moved and Representative Neal seconded a motion to release the bill from committee. The committee conducted a roll-call vote; the motion carried and HB224 will be presented to the full House for consideration.
