ellencee?

What is the name of your state? MA

I read a post of yours a while back that mentioned several persons to whom you should send a letter of complaint if you feel you have been mistreated at a hospital. I have looked and looked and just cannot find that post.

Would you mind repeating this info -- the titles of the people one should complain to?


Thanks so much,

blazon

[ellencee]

blazon3
Many, if not most, hospitals are accredited through Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). This is a voluntary accreditation but it is a powerful tool in assuring that healthcare is delivered properly. Here is there web site:
[url]http://www.jcaho.org/[/url]

Call the hospital in question and ask which accreditation organizations the hospital uses or go to the hospital and look in the lobby for postings.

You can check the JACHO site for your hospital's survey results. You can submit a complaint via the website, too. If you will, read some of the survey results before you submit your complaint so that you can determine which category best matches your complaint.

Your state's Department of Health and Human Services is probably the resource for review for Medicaid and Medicare services. You should be able to find your state's department on the web, also.

If you write a letter to the hospital's administrator, the best way to prevent your letter from being discarded is to include a statement that you have filed a complaint with JACHO and ask that your complaint be investigated during their next on-site review. The same applies to any letter you may send to your state's licensing boards for physicians, RNs, LPNs, etc.

If it is a surgical matter, be sure to send a letter to the hospital's Chief of Surgery. If it is a physician matter, send a letter to the hospital's Chief of Staff; if it is a nursing matter, send a letter to the Director of Nursing. For any concern, send a letter to the Quality Assurance Director (This title varies by institution; it may be Utilization Review or a similar title.)

Without knowing the nature of your complaint, I have tried to answer your question. If I have not met your specific need, please post again.

Best wishes,
EC

Ellencee,

Wow, thanks so much for the info. Who best to write to if one is complaining about a technician?


Thanks,

blazon

[ellencee]

blazon3
It would depend on the department in which the technician works--ie. lab tech works under the supervision of the lab director or pathologist, depending on the hospital; x-ray tech works under the supervision of the radiologist or other supervising radiology professional.

Depending on the nature of the complaint, you may want to report it to the administrator and, or the accrediting agencies.

EC

Thanks, again, for the info.

I'm writing for a friend of mine who recently had a negative experience while having a sonogram done. During the procedure, the technician pressed the machine into her skin very firmly, to the point of causing her pain. She asked several times for the technician to please halt the procedure, but he refused. By the time the procedure was finished, the technician had broken my friend's skin, leaving a long cut along her public line.

When she saw that the technician had actually broken her skin and that she was bleeding, she told the technician, and he ignored her concern, neither giving her medication, bandages or any other medical attention.

The hospital told my friend to send a letter describing the incident and her wound to Patient Family Relations (I'm assuming this is similar to Quality Assurance Director?). She has pictures of the injury. Should she include them with her letter or would it be best to wait? Technicians performing ultrasounds work under whose supervision?

Thanks so much, ellencee.


blazon

[ellencee]

Blazon3
email me at [email]ellencee@eartlink.net[/email] and tell me the name of the hospital. Please do not post the name of the hospital on this site.

I'll look up the hospital and tell you exactly to whom to send the letter(s).

If you prefer not to do that, it's OK. Send a letter to the administrator, to the head of the ultrasound department, and, or radiology department, and to JCAHO. Be sure to include pictures with the letter(s) and be emphatic that the techinician was repeatedly told that the procedure was hurting.

EC

Great, thank you, ellencee!!

I will pass your email along to my friend, as I myself am not certain of the name of the hospital.

Again, thank you!!


blazon