Maine’s largest healthcare system has issued an apology after mistakenly sending letters to hundreds of living patients, incorrectly informing them of their own deaths.
On October 20, a technical glitch caused 521 letters to be dispatched via a third-party vendor, with each letter erroneously addressing the recipient as deceased, according to MaineHealth.
“MaineHealth deeply regrets this mistake,” the organization stated. “We have rectified the error and have sent out apology letters to all those affected.”
Officials assured the public that no patients were incorrectly listed as deceased in their medical records, and that the quality of patient care remained unaffected.
The mistake was isolated to an automated estate-notification system managed from MaineHealth’s headquarters in Portland, which oversees Maine Medical Center along with eight other hospitals in Maine and New Hampshire.
A statement from MaineHealth acknowledged the error of sending incorrect death notices to over 500 patients last month, emphasizing their commitment to addressing the situation promptly.
MaineHealth, which employs more than 20,000 people, recently updated its digital record and messaging systems and is now reviewing the automation tool that produced the letters.
Automation mishaps have plagued hospital networks nationwide, from billing statements sent to the wrong families to “deceased” alerts popping up in online patient portals.
According to a 2022 Pew Charitable Trusts report, electronic health records complexity and usability problems can lead to wrong drug orders, missed test results or other patient-safety risks.
Patients were reportedly sent letters from MaineHealth who claim that at no time they were listed as deceased. (iStock)
Patients who received the erroneous letters can contact MaineHealth’s patient relations department to confirm their status — alive and well — and ensure their records remain accurate.
“It was pretty upsetting to open that,” one woman told WGME. “Why would they say I was dead? So it was really shocking and upsetting.”
Over 500 patients of MaineHealth reportedly received letters informing them of their own death. (iStock)
“I mean, I’ve had some tests done, and my doctor is part of MaineHealth,” the woman said. “But I haven’t even been in the hospital for anything serious that I could have died from. So I don’t even know where they got that information.”
No protected health information was exposed, the hospital said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to MaineHealth for additional comment.
