Healthcare system apologizes after over 500 living patients told they were dead via mail: 'Pretty upsetting'

Maine s biggest healthcare configuration is apologizing after hundreds of living patients received letters telling them they were dead MaineHealth explained a computer malfunction Oct caused letters to go out through a third-party vendor system each addressed to a client and written as if the recipient had died MaineHealth sincerely regrets this error the organization noted in a report We have since resolved the issue and sent apology letters to every affected sufferer Personnel stressed that no one was marked deceased in their medicinal records and that person care wasn t affected The glitch was confined to an automated estate-notification process based at MaineHealth s Portland headquarters which oversees Maine Diagnostic Center and eight other hospitals across Maine and New Hampshire DELIVERY GIANT'S INPUT BREACH EXPOSES PERSONAL RECORDSMaineHealth which employs more than people in the last few days 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 case portals According to a Pew Charitable Trusts statement electronic fitness records complexity and usability problems can lead to wrong drug orders missed test results or other patient-safety risks HACKERS STEAL MEDICINAL RECORDS AND FINANCIAL EVIDENCE FROM M PATIENTS IN MASSIVE HEALTHCARE BREACHPatients who received the erroneous letters can contact MaineHealth s person relations department to confirm their status alive and well and ensure their records remain accurate It was pretty upsetting to open that one woman informed WGME Why would they say I was dead So it was really shocking and upsetting I mean I've had various tests done and my medical professional is part of MaineHealth the woman reported 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 physical condition information was exposed the hospital reported Fox News Digital has reached out to MaineHealth for additional comment