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Patients’ rights and responsibilities

As health care consumers, it is important that we become familiar with our patient rights. Especially at a time when the HMO's, some health care providers, and even the government are trying one way or the other to eliminate some of those rights, which in fact are basic, and formally recognized by the Human Rights charter of the United Nations.  Several reports and studies from prestigious American journals and universities have at length addressed the issue of lower quality of care delivery  that, in some cases, African Americans are getting when compared with whites.  One way to change this is to become familiar with our rights as patients.

The American Hospital Association has created a Patients’ Bill of Rights in order to help consumers and their families understand their rights and also their responsibilities.  

Patient’s Bill of Rights

1. The patient has the right to considerate and respectful care.
2. The patient has the right to current and understandable information concerning diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.
3. The patient has the right to know the identity of physicians, nurses and others involved with their care, as well as when those involved are students, residents or trainees.
4. The patient has the right to know the immediate and long-term costs of treatment choices.
5. The patient has the right to make decisions about the plan of care prior to and during treatment. 
6. The patient has the right to have an advanced directive (such as a living will, health care proxy or durable power of attorney for health care) concerning treatment or choice of a surrogate decision maker.
7. The patient has the right to privacy.  Case discussion, consultation, examination and treatment should not jeopardize a patient’s privacy.
8. The patient has the right to have his or medical records kept confidential by the hospital, except in cases such as suspected abuse and public health hazards when reporting is required by law.
9. The patient has the right to review his or her medical record and to have any information explained or interpreted.
10. The patient has the right to expect that a hospital will accommodate a request for appropriate care and services.
11. The patient has the right to ask and be informed of the existence of business relationships among the hospital, educational institutions, other health care providers or payors that may influence the patient’s treatment and care.
12. The patient has the right to consent 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.
13. The patient has the right to expect reasonable continuity of care and be informed of available and realistic patient care options when hospital care is no longer appropriate.
14. The patient has the right to be informed of hospital policies and practices that relate to patient care, treatment and responsibilities.
15. The patient has the right to be informed of available resources for resolving disputes, grievances and conflicts, such as ethics committees, patient representatives or other mechanisms available in the institution.
16. The patient has the right to be informed of the hospital’s charges for services and available payment methods.  

        Patient responsibilities: 

1. Patients are responsible for providing information about past illnesses, hospitalizations, medications and other matters related to their health status.
2. Patients are responsible for participating in decision making as well as requesting additional information about their health status or treatment when they do not fully understand information and instructions.
3. Patients are responsible for providing health care agencies with a copy of their written advance directive if they have one.
4. Patients are responsible for informing their physicians and other caregivers if they anticipate problems in following a prescribed treatment.
5. Patients are responsible for providing necessary information for insurance claims and for working with the hospital to make payment arrangements when necessary.