Often the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) receives requests from patients and families about the quality and safety of their care. They seek information about what they can do as partners to ensure they receive high quality health care.
IHI also receives requests to support the review of a particular patient or family experience. IHI has no oversight role over health care hospitals, office practices, or clinics or expertise in resolution of specific medical adverse events. We suggest that concerns around health care be directed to the leadership of the institution. In the case of a hospital, we suggest you contact senior administration and/or the patient relations department. There are many examples where this strategy has proven very effective for patients and/or families and have been sources of tremendous learning for organizations.
Where this isn’t possible, in most states, hospitals are licensed through state government. Complaints can be filed with appropriate agencies, typically under the Department of Public Health. If the hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission, you may file a complaint with them. Where the patient is Medicare eligible, patients and family members can contact 1-800-MEDICARE with any concerns.
IHI’s website, IHI.org, contains some materials that might be useful to patients and families; look especially in the Topics section, under Patient-Centered Care.
Another document that you might want to review is called When Things Go Wrong, published by the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors. This consensus statement of teaching hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School reflects some of the latest thinking on recommended steps for health care providers in the event of an adverse event.
The Joint Commission has developed an excellent set of publications to assist patients and families in becoming partners to ensure high quality care.
Finally, while IHI is not affiliated with the particular groups listed below, they may be useful resources when looking for support after a particular medical event, or when trying to engage with other patients and families about similar issues.
