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Filing a complaint against a healthcare professional or provider

To file a complaint with the State of Arizona:

Arizona Department of Health Services
Office of Medical Facilities
Attn.: Ms. Virginia Blair
1647 E. Morten Ave., Ste. 160
Phoenix, AZ 85020

Provide the following in writing:

1. Name of patient and complainant, if applicable
2. DOB and SSN
3. Return mailing address
4. Name of facility
5. Date of admittance
6. Date of discharge
7. Date of incident
8. Brief description of incident and parties

The complaint will be assigned an investigation number and if necessary can be forwarded to medicare for further investigation. You can view redacted complaints at the Office of Medical Facilities, but you must call first to have them prepare a redacted copy for review. They like to have at least a few days= notice.

QUESTIONS about filing a complaint with the State:
Ph.: 602.674.9750 (Bonnie Stewart, RN)

To file a complaint with a national accrediting agency for Hospitals:

JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) www.jcaho.org
Print out a Quality Incident Report Form from their site, then:

Fax: Office of Quality Monitoring
630.792.5636

OR

E-Mail: complaint@jcaho.org

QUESTIONS about filing complaints with JCAHO: 1-800-994-6610 (8:30 - 5:00 CST)

Filing a complaint against an Arizona physician or a physician's assistant

Filing a complaint against an Arizona physician or a physician's assistant will not affect your legal rights in any manner whatsoever. We recommend that you file a complaint no matter what you decide to do with your potential medical malpractice case. When you file a complaint, you place the general public on notice of potential problems with the physician or physician's assistant.

Unfortunately most medical malpractice is never pursued through litigation and thus goes unreported. If the patient or the patient's family does not file a complaint with the Arizona Medical Board, then there is the potential that malpractice will occur with another patient. The better informed we are as medical consumers, the better care we will ultimately receive. Please take the time to report medical errors to the Arizona Medical Board.

You may now file a complaint against a physician or physician's assistant online at AZMD.gov. On the home page of the Arizona Medical Board, click on "Consumer Center," then "File a Complaint Online." You will be taken to the "Complaint Process-Home Page." There you need to click on "Enter New Complaint" before you begin entering your information. After you have completed the complaint, your case will be assigned a number. Retain this number. This will allow you to check the status of your complaint online.