Maine’s largest healthcare system has mistakenly sent hundreds of letters to patients’ families wrongly informing them that their relatives have died.
MaineHealth sent the letters to the families of 531 still-living patients in late October, signed by the system, which expressed condolences and provided advice on how to settle the deceased’s estate.
In the letters, the hospital writes: ‘We would like to express our condolences on the passing of [your relation].
‘We are reaching out to keep you informed about next steps related to [their hospital account and bill].’
A spokesperson at MaineHealth, which also has patients in New Hampshire, blamed the blunder on a malfunction with its computer system.
They said that further letters were also sent to clarify the error and apologize for any distress or inconvenience that was caused.
Patients who were affected have, however, said they were left feeling ‘pretty upset’ and ‘shocked’ by the error.
MaineHealth runs eight hospitals and an ‘extensive network’ of clinics in Maine and New Hampshire that together see more than 1.1million patients every year and employ 24,000 people.
Shown above is the main entrance to Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, part of the hospital system that wrongly told more than 500 patients that they had died
Patients have reacted with fury to the mishap, and called the hospital system to say they were still alive (stock image)
One female patient who was sent the letter saying she had died told Maine news provider 13WGME that she was, in fact, still very much alive.
The individual, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It was pretty upsetting to open that. Why would they say I was dead? So, it was really shocking and upsetting.’
She said she was worried it could cause problems if the hospital actually reported her dead to officials, and contacted them immediately to say that she was alive and well.
The patient added: ‘[A spokesman] said he was aware of the issue, and that they were going to send out apology letters, so I’m thinking there’s other people.
‘And he’s like, “I’m glad to hear that you’re still alive and well”, and I’m like, “Yeah, me too”. And then that was the end of the conversation.’
A spokesperson for the hospital said no one who received the letters was marked dead in medical records and that patient care was not affected.
In a statement, they said: ‘MaineHealth sincerely regrets this error and has sent apology letters to all patients who have been affected.
‘At no time were these patients listed as deceased in their medical records, and the issue has been fully resolved.’
The letters were sent out on October 20, with the error then detected shortly afterward.
MaineHealth, headquartered in Portland, Maine, recently updated its digital record and automation system and is now reviewing the computer system that caused the error.
Automation mishaps have plagued US hospitals in recent years.
In another instance from 2021, a health system in Idaho sent letters to several patients informing them that they were dead and that their personal information may have been stolen.
The letters came from Saint Alphonsus hospital system, which serves more than 700,000 people across Idaho and parts of Oregon and Nevada.
A spokesperson for the hospital said at the time that the letters were down to a ‘mail merge issue’ and apologized for the ‘confusion and frustration’ caused. They also blamed the letters on a cyberattack.
In a statement, the spokesperson said: ‘The purpose of the original important notification was to inform impacted patients of an email security incident, provide a call center number to call for information and to advise patients about credit monitoring services which would be available, if desired.
‘The mail merge issue did not occur at Saint Alphonsus and all the impacted patients’ status is properly identified in our electronic medical records system.’