MaineHealth mistakenly sent death letters to more than 500 living patients
Maine’s largest healthcare system admitted to a software malfunction that mistakenly generated death notifications for 521 patients who are still alive.
MaineHealth, the largest healthcare provider in the state of Maine, accidentally sent condolence letters to more than 500 living patients, wrongly informing them that they had passed away.
According to local outlet News Center Maine, the incident occurred on October 20 due to a software malfunction in the system that automatically sends out communications to suppliers and related parties.
In total, 521 patients received notifications meant exclusively for deceased individuals.
“MaineHealth sincerely regrets this error,” the organization said in an official statement.
The patients were never listed as deceased in their records
The healthcare system clarified that none of the affected patients were ever marked as deceased in their electronic medical records, and the glitch had no impact on clinical care or administrative processes.
“MaineHealth deeply regrets this mistake and has sent apology letters to all impacted patients,” a spokesperson stated. “At no time were these patients recorded as deceased in their medical files, and the issue has now been fully corrected.”
The non-profit health system operates nine hospitals, including a Level 1 trauma center, and employs more than 20,000 staff members across Maine and New Hampshire.
Background: Similar errors in other U.S. healthcare systems
This kind of error is not unprecedented. In January 2021, the Saint Alphonsus Health System in Idaho experienced a cyberattack that led to the accidental distribution of letters falsely notifying patients of their deaths. In that case, the organization explained that a “mail merge issue” was to blame for the mistake and issued an apology for the confusion. The original intention of the letters had been to inform patients about a data breach and provide credit monitoring services to those affected.
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