Managing mortuary services is a critical yet often siloed part of healthcare operations. Without integrated digital workflows, organisations can face inefficiencies, limited visibility, and increased risk.
InterSystems TrakCare® Mortuary brings these processes into your enterprise-wide electronic patient record (EPR), enabling seamless coordination, accurate tracking, and improved compliance - while supporting the highest standards of care and dignity.
The Challenges Facing NHS Mortuary Services
Mortuary services play a critical role within the healthcare pathway, yet many organisations continue to face significant operational pressures.
Delays in certification, review, and release
The process from death certification through to release involves multiple stakeholders, including:
- Clinicians
- Medical examiners
- Coroners
- Bereavement teams
- Funeral directors
- Families
End-to-end traceability of the deceased
Mortuary teams must maintain clear visibility at every stage—knowing who has been admitted, where they are located, what actions have taken place, and whether all required checks have been completed prior to release.
Without reliable, real-time tracking, this becomes increasingly difficult to manage safely and consistently.
Without reliable, real-time tracking, this becomes increasingly difficult to manage safely and consistently.
Capacity and storage management
Delays elsewhere in the care pathway can quickly impact mortuary capacity, including:
- Fridge and freezer availability
- Viewing arrangements
- Release planning
Paper-heavy and fragmented communication
Mortuary services rely on input from multiple departments and external organisations. When communication is fragmented or paper-based, it increases the risk of:
- Duplication of effort
- Missed actions
- Inconsistent or outdated information
Governance, compliance, and audit readiness
Mortuary services operate in a highly sensitive and regulated environment. Requirements around:
- Dignity and respect
- Consent and documentation
- Security and access
- Auditability
Why this matters
These challenges are not simply administrative. They directly impact:
- Patient safety and identification
- Operational visibility and efficiency
- Accountability and compliance
- The ability to provide a dignified service for the deceased and their families
TrakCare Mortuary is designed to address these challenges by bringing all mortuary workflows into a single, integrated digital platform.
Download the Enhancing Safe, Compliant Mortuary Management brochure
Download the Enhancing Safe, Compliant Mortuary Management brochure
Why integrate mortuary services?
Challenge | Solution |
| Manual processes and duplicated data entry | Ensure a single, trusted patient record |
| Limited visibility across departments | Improve operational efficiency and workflow coordination |
| Risk of identification or tracking errors | Strengthen traceability and governance |
| Difficulty maintaining audit trails and compliance | Support staff with clear, structured processes |
Key Capabilities
- End-to-end mortuary management
Manage the full lifecycle—from admission through to release—within a single, integrated system. - Real-time tracking and visibility
Know exactly where each patient is within the mortuary process, with up-to-date status and location tracking. - Integrated patient identification
Reduce risk and improve safety with consistent identification linked directly to the enterprise EPR. - Workflow automation
Standardise processes and reduce manual effort with configurable workflows and task management. - Audit and compliance support
Maintain comprehensive audit trails to support regulatory requirements and internal governance.
Designed for connected care
Unlike standalone mortuary systems, TrakCare Mortuary is part of a fully integrated, enterprise-wide platform, enabling:
- Seamless data flow between clinical, administrative, and support services
- Better collaboration across departments
- A single source of truth across the organisation
FAQs
Do the mortuary workflows include barcode identification of the body?
The mortuary workflows in TrakCare can support barcode identification of the deceased.
As demonstrated, the mortuary workflow can include positive identification steps, including selecting the mortuary record, confirming the deceased patient’s identity, reviewing relevant warnings or alerts, and then proceeding with the required mortuary activity.
In addition, TrakCare can support barcode scanning as a further positive identification check before an activity is undertaken. Where configured, a user can scan the barcode associated with the deceased to confirm that they are working with the correct mortuary record before continuing with the relevant action.
This can be launched from relevant menu functions and incorporated into the workflow as an additional safety and governance control. TrakCare is flexible in this area, allowing workflows to be configured either to provide quick access where appropriate, or to require barcode identification before specific mortuary actions are completed. For example, barcode identification could be incorporated as a mandatory check during key processes such as the release or discharge of the deceased from the mortuary.
As demonstrated, the mortuary workflow can include positive identification steps, including selecting the mortuary record, confirming the deceased patient’s identity, reviewing relevant warnings or alerts, and then proceeding with the required mortuary activity.
In addition, TrakCare can support barcode scanning as a further positive identification check before an activity is undertaken. Where configured, a user can scan the barcode associated with the deceased to confirm that they are working with the correct mortuary record before continuing with the relevant action.
This can be launched from relevant menu functions and incorporated into the workflow as an additional safety and governance control. TrakCare is flexible in this area, allowing workflows to be configured either to provide quick access where appropriate, or to require barcode identification before specific mortuary actions are completed. For example, barcode identification could be incorporated as a mandatory check during key processes such as the release or discharge of the deceased from the mortuary.
How can you use all the information captured within Mortuary?
The information captured within TrakCare Mortuary can be used in a number of practical ways, supporting both day-to-day operational management and wider governance requirements.
At an operational level, it provides mortuary staff with a clear digital view of the information recorded throughout the deceased patient’s mortuary journey. This supports effective management of admissions, movements, viewings, post-mortem activity, releases and associated tasks.
The captured information also supports traceability and auditability. Key events, checks, movements and actions can be recorded against the mortuary record, providing an auditable history of what happened, when it occurred and who completed each step. This helps organisations demonstrate compliance with local processes and governance requirements.
From a reporting and management perspective, the data captured within TrakCare Mortuary can be used to support dashboards, operational reports and service oversight. Examples may include reporting on mortuary admissions and releases, current occupancy, length of stay, outstanding tasks, delayed releases, viewings, post-mortem activity and compliance with agreed local processes.
Overall, the data captured within TrakCare Mortuary is available to support operational visibility, audit, governance and reporting requirements, and can be used by the organisation as required.
At an operational level, it provides mortuary staff with a clear digital view of the information recorded throughout the deceased patient’s mortuary journey. This supports effective management of admissions, movements, viewings, post-mortem activity, releases and associated tasks.
The captured information also supports traceability and auditability. Key events, checks, movements and actions can be recorded against the mortuary record, providing an auditable history of what happened, when it occurred and who completed each step. This helps organisations demonstrate compliance with local processes and governance requirements.
From a reporting and management perspective, the data captured within TrakCare Mortuary can be used to support dashboards, operational reports and service oversight. Examples may include reporting on mortuary admissions and releases, current occupancy, length of stay, outstanding tasks, delayed releases, viewings, post-mortem activity and compliance with agreed local processes.
Overall, the data captured within TrakCare Mortuary is available to support operational visibility, audit, governance and reporting requirements, and can be used by the organisation as required.
There are some prepopulated information boxes; how personalised can this be for each site? Can this be managed locally or do we have to contact a support service?
The prepopulated information boxes within TrakCare Mortuary can be personalised to reflect local site processes, terminology and operational guidance. These are generally configurable and can be maintained locally by appropriately authorised system/configuration users. InterSystems assistance would only normally be required for more complex changes, where local configuration access is not available, or where the change has wider workflow, form, security or reporting implications.
Will the electronic medical Cause of death (eMCCD) produced in TrakCae be available to the mortuary staff?
If the eMCCD was captured electronically within TrakCare workflows, it would be made available for viewing within the Mortuary record as this forms part of the single patient record.Access to the eMCCD, or relevant information from it, would be subject to the agreed local workflow, configuration and user permissions. This means authorised mortuary staff could be provided with access where appropriate to support operational processes, while ensuring that access remains controlled in line with local governance and information access policies.
Will the discharge destination be mandatory?
The discharge destination can be made mandatory within the TrakCare Mortuary workflow, subject to the agreed local configuration.
Where required by the organisation, the system can be configured so that the user must record the discharge destination before the deceased can be released or discharged from the mortuary. This helps ensure that key information is captured consistently at the appropriate point in the process.
Where required by the organisation, the system can be configured so that the user must record the discharge destination before the deceased can be released or discharged from the mortuary. This helps ensure that key information is captured consistently at the appropriate point in the process.
