PATIENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES


The Patient has the Right to:

• Receive the care necessary to help regain or maintain his/her maximum state of health and if necessary, cope with death.

• Expect personnel who care for the patient to be friendly, considerate, respectful, and qualified through education and experience, as well as perform the services or which they are responsible with the highest quality of service.

• Expect full recognition of individuality, including personal privacy in treatment and care. In addition, all communications and records will be kept confidential.

• Complete information, to the extent known by the physician, regarding diagnosis, treatment, procedure, and prognosis, as well as alternative treatments or procedures and the possible risks and side effects associated with treatment and procedure.

• Be fully informed of the scope of service available at the facility, provisions for after-hours and emergency care and related fees for services rendered.

• Be a participant in decisions regarding the intensity and scope of treatment. If the patient is unable to participate in those decisions, the patient’s rights shall be exercised by the patient’s designated representative or other legally designed person.

• Make informed decisions regarding his/her care.

• Refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and be informed of the medical consequences of such a refusal. The patient accepts responsibility for his/her actions should he/she refuse treatment or not follow the instructions of the physician or facility.

• Approve or refuse the release of medical records to any individual outside the facility, except in the case or transfer to another health facility, or as required by law or third-party payment contract.

• Be informed of any human experimentation or other research/educational projects affecting his/her care or treatment and can refuse participation in such experimentation or research without compromise to the patient’s usual care.

• Express grievances/complaints and suggestions at any time.

• Assistance in changing primary or specialty physicians or dentists if other qualified physicians or dentists are available.

• Provide patient access to and/or copies of his/her individual medical records

• Be informed as to the facility’s policy regarding advance directives/living wills.

• Be fully informed before any transfer to another facility or organization and ensure the receiving facility has accepted the patient transfer.

• Express those spiritual beliefs and cultural practices that do not harm or interfere with the planned course of medical therapy for the patient.

• Expect the facility to agree to comply with Federal Civil Rights laws that assure it will provide interpretation for individuals who are not proficient in English. The facility presents information in manner and form, such as TDD, large print materials, Braille, audio tapes, and interpreters, that can be understood by hearing and sight impaired individuals.

• Have an initial assessment and regular reassessment of pain.

• Education of patient and families, when appropriate, regarding their roles in managing pain, as well as potential limitations and side effects of pain treatment, if applicable.

• Have their personal, cultural, spiritual, and/or ethnic beliefs considered when communicating to them and their families about pain management and their overall care.


The Patient is Responsible for:

• Being considerate of other patients and personnel for assisting in the control of noise, smoking, and other distractions.

• Respect the property of others and the facility.

• Report whether he/she clearly understands the planned course of treatment and what is expected of him/her.

• Keeping appointments and, when unable to do so for any reason, notifying the facility and physican.

• Providing caregivers with the most accurate and complete information regarding present complaints, past illnesses, and hospitalizations, medications, unexpected changes in the patient’s condition or any other patient health matters.

• Observing prescribed rules of the facility during his/her stay and treatment and if instructions are not followed, forfeiting the right to care at the facility and is responsible for the outcome.

• Promptly fulfilling his/her financial obligations to the facility.

• Payment to facility for copies of the medical records the patient may request.

• Identifying any patient safety concerns.