Maine's largest healthcare system inadvertently sent condolence letters to over 500 living patients, informing them that they had passed away. The mistake was attributed to a computer error, and the non-profit integrated healthcare system has apologized for the blunder.
The incident occurred on October 20 when MaineHealth mailed letters to 531 patients expressing condolences and providing instructions for their next of kin on how to resolve their estates. An error with the computer system responsible for generating estate vendor letters caused the letters to be sent out, resulting in the patients receiving notifications that they had died.
MaineHealth has stated that the issue has been fully resolved, and apology letters have been sent to all affected patients. However, some recipients reported feeling shaken by the experience, including a woman who shared her story with CBS13. She revealed that she had contacted MaineHealth to confirm her well-being after receiving the condolence letter, which included an outstanding bill from the hospital.
The woman expressed confusion and concern over how the healthcare system obtained the information suggesting her death, particularly given her previous test results and lack of serious medical issues. Her sentiments were echoed by a hospital employee who acknowledged the issue and assured her that she was still alive and well.
A recent court case involving MaineHealth also came to light, highlighting the severity of the mistake. A woman had sued the healthcare system for negligence after her daughter died due to misdiagnosis. The jury awarded her $25 million in damages.
In a statement, MaineHealth acknowledged the error and expressed its regret. "MaineHealth sincerely regrets this error and has sent apology letters to all patients who have been affected," the company said.
The incident occurred on October 20 when MaineHealth mailed letters to 531 patients expressing condolences and providing instructions for their next of kin on how to resolve their estates. An error with the computer system responsible for generating estate vendor letters caused the letters to be sent out, resulting in the patients receiving notifications that they had died.
MaineHealth has stated that the issue has been fully resolved, and apology letters have been sent to all affected patients. However, some recipients reported feeling shaken by the experience, including a woman who shared her story with CBS13. She revealed that she had contacted MaineHealth to confirm her well-being after receiving the condolence letter, which included an outstanding bill from the hospital.
The woman expressed confusion and concern over how the healthcare system obtained the information suggesting her death, particularly given her previous test results and lack of serious medical issues. Her sentiments were echoed by a hospital employee who acknowledged the issue and assured her that she was still alive and well.
A recent court case involving MaineHealth also came to light, highlighting the severity of the mistake. A woman had sued the healthcare system for negligence after her daughter died due to misdiagnosis. The jury awarded her $25 million in damages.
In a statement, MaineHealth acknowledged the error and expressed its regret. "MaineHealth sincerely regrets this error and has sent apology letters to all patients who have been affected," the company said.
... how do u even get the wrong info on someone's death in the first place? 
like, whats next? they're gonna send a letter to ur grandma saying she won the lottery or smthn 
. but seriously tho, 500+ people receiving a condolence letter thinking they're dead is just crazy 
. i feel bad for those ppl who got shook by this mistake 
. and omg $25 million in damages? that's wild 
. gotta give it to mainehealth though, they're owning up to the mistake and apologizing, thats more than most companies do 
.
i feel bad for those people who got mistaken as dead by the hospital... it's like they received a death certificate in the mail 
. how do you guys think they're gonna fix their computer system to prevent this from happening again? 
and what about all the emotional distress caused by sending out condolence letters to living people? i mean, can't imagine getting those kinds of letters and not knowing what's going on... it's really scary 
.
just can't believe this is happening again... 500+ living people getting condolence letters from a computer error? 
I mean, what's next? Sending death notices to birthdays and holidays? 
It's like they're trying to make life harder for us. And that woman who got the letter with her outstanding bill? 
she should've been livid! How did they even get that info? And now there's a court case, $25 million in damages... yeah, because mistakes like this happen all too often in our healthcare system 
My grandma would freak out if she got something like that! 
Some people are saying it's time for better cybersecurity measures... I don't know about you guys, but this kind of thing makes me wanna go back to using those old Rolodexes and paper files 
Can you imagine getting a condolence letter from the hospital? I mean, that's just a whole different level of weird. Like, what do you even say to someone who sends you a sympathy card for your own funeral? 
And yeah, the whole misdiagnosis case is just crazy... $25 million is a lot of money, and it's not hard to see why she'd be upset.
. But still, this whole thing just leaves me shook... in a weird way, I want to know what kind of computer error would cause that 
.