How To Report A Medical Error in Massachusetts

Despite having a reputation as the home of some of the best medical care in the nation, Massachusetts is also the home to a host of medical mistakes. When is a bad medical experience considered medical malpractice, and how do you report a medical error?

What is a Medical Error?

Medical errors include mistakes made by healthcare professionals and hospitals such as surgical mistakes, medication errors, misread xrays, laboratory mix ups, communication breakdowns, as well as hospital-acquired infections, misdiagnoses or delays in diagnosis and many other forms of medical negligence.

In Massachusetts as part of an effort to identify and track problems in delivery of healthcare, hospitals are required by law to report what are known as “serious reportable events” (SREs) to Health and Human Services Department of Public Health.

The state currently tracks 29 SREs as defined by the National Quality Forum. These SREs are also known as “never events” as they are never supposed to happen to someone in a hospital.

According to one study, almost 1 in 4 Massachusetts residents experienced a medical error themselves or a person close to them, and 59% of these incidents resulted in serious health consequences. (2014 survey by the Betsy Lehman Center, which asked 1,224 Massachusetts residents whether they or someone close to them believed they had experienced a medical error situation.)

Why Report a Medical Mistake?

At the state and federal levels, patient safety organizations and agencies recognize this problem and are working to improve health care in all areas. Tracking and reporting errors is key to this process. Identifying problems helps these patient safety organizations and hospitals to study and offer solutions and training to eliminate these errors from the health care system.

For more information on reporting a medical error, see: Steps to take after experiencing a medical mistake from the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety.

When Is a Medical Mistake Considered Medical Malpractice?

If you have questions about a possible medical malpractice lawsuit, please follow these steps to learn if you may have legal recourse.

1. Jot down some notes about your situation.

To the best of your knowledge write down doctor or other health provider names and hospitals involved and any key dates. What was your medical issue? What went wrong? Don’t worry about getting every detail, but create your own record and get your thoughts together enough to tell your basic story.

2. Speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney in the state in which the problem occurred.

If the medical error in question caused a patient serious injury, additional surgeries, a delay in recovery or death, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and medical costs. It is important to speak with a law firm that regularly brings medical malpractice cases to trial and has a record of winning verdicts — which gives them more leverage in settlement negotiations — such as Lubin & Meyer.

For more information: If you or a loved one experienced a medical error, please click the following link to read information about medical mistakes in Massachusetts. While not every medical error leads to a life altering injury (or worse), every medical mistake does deserve to be reported in order to make these errors known and to help keep them from happening to someone else.