The Patient’s Bill of Rights

In this Article:
Knowing Your Medical Rights
The Patient’s Bill of Rights
Patient Responsibilities

In 1973 the American Hospital Association (AHA) first issued its Patient’s Bill of Rights. Now, this listing is not comprehensive, nor is it legally binding. In fact, this list should be seen for what it is: the hospital’s perspective on your rights. As a consumer, they may differ; and getting a hospital to comply with these rights is most often going to be the responsibility of the patient or his friends and family members.

• You have the right to receive respectful care.

• You have the right to relevant, current and understandable information concerning your diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Except in emergencies, when you are unable to make decisions and the need for treatment is urgent, you are entitled to request information related to the specific procedures and/or treatments recommended, the risks involved, the possible length of recuperation, and the medically reasonable alternatives.

• You have the right to know the identity of physicians, nurses and others involved in your care and to know when those involved are students, residents or other trainees. You also have the right to know the immediate and long-term financial implications of treatment choices.

• You have the right to make decisions about the plan of care prior to and during the course of treatment and to refuse a recommended treatment to the extent permitted by law and hospital policy. In the case of such refusal, you are still entitled to be informed of the medical consequences and to other appropriate care and services that the hospital provides, or to transfer to another hospital. That hospital, in turn, should notify you of any policy that might affect your choice.

• You have the right to have an advance directive (such as a living will, health care proxy, or durable power of attorney for health care) concerning treatment or designating a surrogate decision-maker with the expectation that the hospital will honor the intent of that directive to the extent permitted by law and hospital policy. The institution should advise patients of their rights under state law and hospital policy, ask if the patient has an advance directive and, if so, include it in the patient’s records and make clear any policy that may limit such an advance directive.

• You have the right to every consideration of privacy. Case discussion, consultation, examination and treatment should be conducted so as to protect each patient’s privacy.

• You have the right to expect that all communications and records pertaining to your care will be kept confidential (except in cases such as suspected abuse and public health hazards when reporting is permitted or required by law), and that the hospital will emphasize the confidentiality of this information when it releases it to any other parties entitled to review information in these records.

• You have the right to review the records pertaining to your medical care and to have the information explained or interpreted as necessary, except when restricted by law.

• You have the right to expect that, within its capacity, the hospital will make reasonable response to your request for medical care. The hospital must provide evaluation, service, and/or referral as indicated by the urgency of the case. When medically appropriate and legally permissible, or when you have so requested, you may be transferred to another facility. The institution to which you are to be transferred must first have accepted you for transfer. You must also have the benefit of a complete explanation of the need for, risks, benefits, and alternatives to such a transfer.

• You have the right to ask to be informed of the existence of business relationships among the hospital, educational institutions, other health care providers, or payers that may influence your treatment and care.

• You have the right to consent to or decline to participate in proposed research studies or human experimentation affecting care and treatment or requiring direct patient involvement, and to have those studies fully explained prior to consent. If you decline to participate in research or experimentation, you are entitled to the most effective care that the hospital can otherwise provide.

• You have the right to expect reasonable continuity of care when appropriate and to be informed by health care providers of available and realistic patient care options when hospital care is no longer appropriate.

• You have the right to know of hospital policies and practices that relate to patient care, treatment and responsibilities and to be informed of available resources for resolving disputes, grievances and conflicts available in the institution. You also have the right to be informed of the hospital’s charges for services and available payment methods.

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