Rights & Responsibilities

Rights & Responsibilities

You Have the Right to the Best Care

Patient Rights

All patients have a right to equitable and humane treatment regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, economic status or source of payment.


Access to Care
You have the right to a reasonable response to your request and need for treatment or services that are available or medically indicated regardless of race, creed, sex, national origin or ability to pay for treatment as long as the services are within the hospital’s capacity, its stated mission and philosophy, and relevant laws and regulations. In the event that your needs cannot be met, you will be notified, and alternatives to care will be presented at that time.


Admission Notification

You have the right to have your physician and/or a family member or representative notified of your hospital admission.


Language

You have the right to utilize the services of an interpreter at no cost 24 hours a day, seven days a week.


Informed Consent

You have the right to be informed of your health status, including, but not limited to, a complete and current diagnosis and information regarding your medical condition. You have the right to receive information necessary to give informed consent prior to the start of any procedure or treatment; this includes the right to receive information regarding the medically significant risks involved, alternative courses of treatment, side effects and benefits to receiving the treatment or procedure. You have the right to be informed of the outcomes of care, including any unexpected or adverse outcomes. You have the right to refuse care, treatment or services at any time, to the extent permitted by law, and to be informed of the medical consequences of such refusal. You have the right to participate in the formulation of your treatment plan and decisions regarding your care.


Staff

You have the right to know the identity and professional statuses of individuals providing services and to be cared for by staff educated about patient rights and their role in supporting those rights. You have the right to be informed of any educational, professional or business affiliations between those providing care for you and the hospital or other organizations.


Ethics

You and your appointed representative have the right to participate in the consideration of ethical issues involving your care, including, but not limited to, issues of conflict resolution, withholding resuscitative services, forgoing or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, end-of-life decision-making, organ donation, and participation in investigational studies or clinical trials.


Safety

You have the right to expect to receive care in a safe setting insofar as the hospital practices and environment are concerned. You have the right to be free from abuse that is mental, verbal, sexual or physical in nature. You have the right to be free from neglect, harassment and exploitation. You have the right to be free from medical or physical restraints and seclusion imposed as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience or retaliation by staff.


Protective Services

You have the right to access protective services and advocacy services, if needed.


Pain
You have the right to appropriate assessment and management of pain.


Filming/Photography

You have the right to be informed and to give consent prior to any recordings or filming made for purposes other than for your identification, diagnosis or treatment.


Privacy

You have the right to personal privacy and confidentiality in communications with your health care providers and in regard to your medical records, and may approve or refuse their release to an individual outside the facility, except in the case of a transfer to another health care institution or as required by law or a third-party payment contract. You or your representative have the right to access information contained in your medical records within a reasonable amount of time, in accordance with the hospital’s procedures and applicable law. You have the right to request an amendment to your medical record. You have the right to an accounting of disclosures regarding your health information.


Respect

You have the right to care that is considerate and respectful at all times and under all circumstances and is impartial without regard to your cultural, psychosocial, spiritual, personal values and beliefs as well as your age, race, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability or other status protected by law. You have the right to full recognition of dignity and individuality, including privacy in treatment and in the care of your necessary personal and social needs.


Advance Directive

You have the right to formulate advance directives for health care to the extent permitted by law. You have the right to have the hospital staff comply with your advance directives. Hillcrest Hospital South will suspend a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) during surgery unless specifically requested otherwise by the patient or patient representative.


Representative/Surrogate Decision-Maker

You have the right to appoint a patient representative, also known as a surrogate decision-maker. The surrogate decision-maker can make decisions on your behalf, to the extent permitted by law, if you become unable to communicate your wishes regarding care in the following instances.


  • You are incapable of understanding a proposed treatment or procedure.
  • You are unable to communicate your wishes regarding care.
  • You are adjudicated incompetent.
  • You are found by your physician to be mentally incapable of understanding your rights.
  • You are a non-emancipated minor whose care may be supervised by a parent or guardian.


Family

You have the right to have family or a chosen representative participate in discussions and decisions regarding your health care.


Visitors

You have the right to receive visitors of your choosing, including a spouse, domestic partner (including same-sex partner), family members and friends. This right is subject to any clinically necessary or reasonable restrictions imposed by the hospital or your doctor. You also have the right to refuse visitors. You have the right to send and receive mail. The hospital will not restrict communication in any way without involving you, your family and/or responsible person in the decision. Your patient representative also may exercise your visitation rights.


Research

You have the right to refuse to participate in research projects.


Transfer

You have the right to be transferred to another facility if this facility cannot provide the services you need. You have the right to receive an explanation concerning the need for a transfer and the alternatives before the transfer is made.


Discharge/Continuity of Care

You have the right to expect reasonable continuity of care. You have the right to receive proper instruction and education to provide a continuum of personal health care following discharge. You have the right to examine and receive an explanation of your bill, regardless of the source of payment.


Ethics

You have the right to request a copy of the hospital’s Code of Ethical Behavior Policy.


Complaints

You have the right to express concerns or complaints without fear of reprisal and to have them responded to in a timely manner. If at any time you feel your rights are not being respected, your nurse will help you contact the hospital representative.


Grievances

Hillcrest Hospital South provides patients and families a way to express complaints or concerns they may have regarding the patient’s rights or care a patient receives. Once a hospital employee or a member of the professional staff is made aware of a grievance, the issue will be promptly resolved by the department providing care. The patient/patient representative also may contact the risk manager at 918-294-4805. A patient also has the right to express grievances directly to:



Patient Responsibilities 

Each patient is responsible for the following:


  • You have the responsibility for providing, to the best of your knowledge, accurate and complete health history, including present complaints, past illnesses, hospitalizations, medications and other matters relating to your health.
  • You are responsible for assisting your physician and the hospital staff in facilitating a safe environment. Please notify your physician or any staff member of any event or situation that you observe that you feel is unsafe.
  • You have the responsibility to report unexpected changes in your condition to the responsible practitioner. You are responsible for reporting whether you clearly comprehend a contemplated course of action and what is expected of you, and you are responsible for asking questions if you do not understand.
  • You are responsible for following the treatment plan recommended by the practitioner primarily responsible for your care. This may include following the instructions of nurses and allied health care professionals as they carry out the coordinated plan of care and implement the responsible practitioner’s orders. You are responsible for accepting the consequences of not following instructions. You are responsible for keeping appointments and, when unable to do so for any reason, notifying the responsible practitioner or the hospital.
  • You are responsible for providing the hospital with a copy of your written advance directive, if completed.
  • You are responsible for assuring that the financial obligations of your health care are fulfilled as promptly as possible. You have the responsibility to cooperate in furnishing hospital personnel, to the best of your ability, any information or documents required by any insurance company or any federal or state agency which will or may undertake the payment of your facility charges in accordance with the requirements of federal or state regulations.
  • You are responsible for following hospital rules and policies of the hospital that apply to you as a patient. You should understand that these rules and policies have been made because the hospital has an obligation to all its patients. You are responsible for conducting yourself and to ensure that your visitors conduct themselves in such a manner that no other patient is deprived of his or her rights of privacy, quiet and proper medical care.
  • You are responsible for acting with consideration and respect with regard to the rights of other patients and hospital personnel. You are responsible for being respectful of the property of other persons or the hospital and to abstain from smoking as required by policy.
Share by: