A computer system error at MaineHealth resulted in 531 patients being mistakenly notified of their own deaths, the health-care system announced.
According to MaineHealth, the malfunction occurred on October 20 during the generation of estate-vendor letters. The letters incorrectly informed the affected patients that they were deceased and included details for next-of-kin about resolving their estates.
“MaineHealth sincerely regrets this error and has sent apology letters to all patients who have been affected,” the health-system spokesperson said. They noted that “at no time were these patients listed as deceased in their medical records and the issue has been fully resolved.”
On the bright side, by setting the bar so low for these 531 patients it is likely that any health outcome they face between now and the final hour will be seen as an improvement over their reported status in the letters.
No additional information was provided about what triggered the malfunction, nor whether any personal data beyond the death-notification letters had been affected.
