Patient Complaints

Physician Review
At the request of Medicare patients or their representatives, VHQC may review complaints about quality of care. Complaints may be made about any setting of care that is covered by Medicare.

Even when the review coordinator who screens the case fails to identify concerns, patient complaints always are referred to a physician reviewer.

Alternate Dispute Resolution
Experience has shown that some patient complaints are the result of miscommunication between patients and healthcare professionals. If the VHQC physician reviewer determines that care met standards, and believes that alternate dispute resolution could be appropriate, the patient is offered that option.

Alternate dispute resolution may take the form of mediation, facilitated resolution or external resolution. None of these are considered binding resolution, and provider participation is voluntary. In many cases, however, a simple explanation or apology can put concerns to rest and greatly increase patient satisfaction.

To learn more about provider participation in alternate dispute resolution, visit the Resource Center.