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If you have had a bad experience with a certain medical professional or establishment, you should know that you have options. Many people do not do anything about their experience and try to forget about it. If you have a good reason to file a complaint against a medical office or doctor, then you should file the complaint so that no one else gets treated the same way. You should take the necessary steps to contact the affiliated medical board as soon as possible. Below are some steps in the complaint process.

Speak With A Department Head
Before doing anything else, it is important to contact the establishment and ask to speak with the office manager. They might be able to resolve your problem without you having to take further action. When speaking to someone, always try to be professional and friendly. Let them know that you are upset and concerned and just want help getting the problem resolved. Be specific as possible with your complaint and give them ample time to get it taken care of before taking any other steps. Generally, this is the quickest and easiest way to get a complaint resolved.

Contact Medical Board
The next step to take for filing a complaint is to contact your state’s local medical review board. When contacting them, it is necessary to have as many details as possible ready. These should include dates and times of your visits, names of staff working the day you visited, reasons for your visit and a full description of the problem at hand. Also, be sure to explain how you tried to resolve the problem with the doctor, office or hospital first without results.

Use Complaint Websites
Another way to file a health care complaint is online. There are many websites where you can file a complaint on a business or against a doctor, clinic, hospital or nursing home. Many websites are made specifically to let patients rate their physicians. Using these types of sites gives users an active role in their health care. It is also a great way to voice any concerns so that other users can benefit.

Another benefit of complaint websites is that it puts attention on the doctor, clinic, hospital or nursing home in question. Because these places do not want bad publicity, they will generally work to get problems solved much quicker. This option should only be used if every other option has been used with no results.

Remember that filing a complaint against someone or a business is a big decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. If you plan to seek compensation or plan to sue or file a case against a doctor, clinic, hospital or nursing home, you should seek legal representation. Always try to get things resolved at the source before escalating the problem. Never lie when filing complaints because it can be considered slander. Slander is falsely making statements that can do harm to someone’s reputation or character. Only provide facts about the situation for the best possible outcome.

Katie Hewatt is a consumer advocate and contributing author for www.gripevine.com a consumer complaint website that allows consumers to file a complaint on a business. A business can view complaints that consumers have filed against their company and try to resolve the complaint with the consumer. Gripevine allows consumers to file complaints against many different types of businesses including doctors, clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes.