File a complaint regarding a hospital

The Department of Public Health has partnered with the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH) to produce a video in sign language that provides information on filing a complaint about care received in a hospital. Access this video, here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oWuF5oD7pQ.

Guidelines and info

The Division of Health Care Facility Licensure and Certification is a regulatory agency required to identify and address Federal or State regulatory violations. In order for us to help you in the most effective and timely way, please read the following guidelines before submitting your complaint.

• We investigate complaints about ongoing or recent problems only. If the matter about which you are complaining occurred more than 12 months ago, we are generally unable to investigate your case.
• It is outside our authority to act as healthcare advocates for individuals or their families or to resolve general healthcare complaints where we do not have regulatory jurisdiction. See the resource list below for alternative sources of support.
• Before filing a complaint with us, we urge you to first register your complaint with the facility’s management team or Patient Advocate. Any member of the management team will be able to provide you with information about the facility’s complaint procedure. Their contact details should be available from the facility’s administrative staff.
• If your complaint is about a person, facility, or issue which is outside our jurisdiction, make your complaint to the correct agency:
  • For physicians
  • For nurses
  • For other clinical staff, like Physician Assistants
  • For billing related complaints
  • For general hospital complaints: The Joint Commission
• If you are not the person receiving care, their legal surrogate, or have their permission to receive their personal medical information, you will need to complete a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) form. It will streamline the process if you print and complete a copy of this form, get necessary signatures, and submit it with your written complaint. If you do not have legal authority to receive patient information, you will not receive a copy of the entire report, but you will receive a synopsis with a conclusion.
• We ask that you put your complaint in writing unless it is impossible for you to do so. This is to ensure that the formal complaint most closely reflects your own concerns and is in your own words. Complaint forms are available on this site to ensure that you provide us with all the information needed to complete our investigation.
• To submit a complaint in writing, please follow the instructions listed below under How to File by clicking “By mail” or “By fax.”
  • If you are not able to provide a written complaint, you may call our 24 hour consumer complaint line at (800) 462-5540 or (617) 753-8150.
• All cases are reviewed and prioritized. The highest priority is given to cases where there is a potential or immediate threat of harm to a patient or patients.