Patient's Bill of Rights
Quality of care – you have the right to:
You have the following rights. If someone is helping you make healthcare decisions, he or she may exercise these rights for you.
- Quality care by skilled doctors and staff
- Be treated for your problem
- Treatment that is as comfortable as possible
- Emergency procedures without unnecessary delays
- Help decide the details of your plan of care
- Ask for a second opinion, at your expense
Safety – you have the right to:
- Safe care
- Know when something goes wrong with your care
- Have a family member or friend, as well as your doctor, notified promptly of your results
- Be free from all forms of abuse and neglect
- Be free from the use of restraints unless needed for safety
Voice and choice – you have the right to:
- Get information in a manner you understand
- Make informed decisions about your care
- Refuse care
- Contact a person or agency to protect your rights
- Have a support person with you for emotional support
- Complain without fear and have your complaints reviewed
Affordability – you have the right to:
- An Itemized bill and an explanation of that bill
- Information about resources to help pay for your healthcare. You may request Charity, which is determined on a case-by-case basis
Authentic personalized relationships – you have the right to:
- Know the names and jobs of the people who care for you
- Privacy and access to medical information
- Be treated with respect and dignity
- Treatment without discrimination
- Respect for your culture, values, beliefs and preferences
- Personal privacy
What is your role in your healthcare?
- Be an active partner in your healthcare
- Ask questions
- Keep appointments
- Be respectful to other people and their property
- Follow the facility's rules
- Follow your care instructions
- Share as much health information with us as possible
- Tell us about changes in your condition
- Tell us when you are in pain
- Leave your valuables at home
- Pay for your care
Patient Privacy HIPAA
Promised protection for your confidential health information.
We have many ways of safeguarding your privacy – like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. This multi-faceted law improves a variety of service areas related to your treatment. Issues covered include health insurance, medical savings accounts, waste reduction, and more.
What is HIPAA?
HIPAA is the acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that was signed into law on August 21, 1996, Public Law 104-191. This law impacts all areas of the healthcare industry and was designed to provide insurance portability, to improve the efficiency of healthcare by standardizing the exchange of administrative and financial data, and to protect the privacy, confidentiality and security of healthcare information. The law is designed to:
- Improve portability and continuity of health insurance coverage
- Combat waste, fraud and abuse in health insurance and healthcare delivery
- Promote the use of medical savings accounts
- Improve access to long-term care services and coverage
- Simplify administration of health insurance and for other purposes. [H.R. 3103]
Health information disclosure
You can choose to authorize disclosure of your health or billing information to a third party.
You have the right to release your personal information
Under federal law, we can only release your personal health information to those directly involved in providing your care; however, you have the right to grant access to your personal medical or billing information to other individuals or organizations of your choice. If you choose to do so, we require a written authorization.