Patient Rights & Responsibilities

Respect & Dignity
1. The hospital prohibits discrimination based on age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. You have the right to be treated in a respectful manner that supports your dignity. You have the right to considerate and respectful care, in an environment that preserves dignity and contributes to a positive self-image This includes the right to be free from physical or mental abuse, harassment, and corporal punishment. You have the right to be free from restraint or seclusion, of any form, unless it is imposed to ensure your immediate safety, the safety of staff or others.

Information
2. You have the right to receive effective communication delivered in a manner which meets your individual needs. The hospital respects all the cultural values, beliefs and preferences of all patients. You have the right and are encouraged to obtain from physicians and other direct caregivers, relevant, current, and understandable information concerning your diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. You have the right to know the identity of physicians, nurses, and others involved in your care, as well as when those involved are students or other trainees. You also have the right to know the immediate and the long-term financial implications of treatment choices, insofar as they are known.

Consent & Participation
3. You have the right to participate in the development and implementation of your plan of care. You have the right to make decisions about your plan of care based on your individual needs and preferences prior to and during the course of your treatment and to refuse the recommended treatment or plan of care to the extent permitted by law and hospital policy. You have the right to be informed of the medical consequences of your decision. If you should refuse a recommended treatment or plan of care, you are entitled to other appropriate care and services that the hospital provides or to be transferred to another hospital. You have the right to have a family member, or representative of your choice, and your own physician notified promptly of your admission to the hospital. You have the right to be informed of the name of the physician or other practitioner who has primary responsibility for your treatment, care and services.

Privacy & Confidentiality
4. You have the right to every consideration of privacy.

5. You have the right to expect that all communications and records pertaining to your care will be treated as confidential by the hospital, except in cases when reporting is permitted or required by law. You have the right to expect that the hospital will emphasize the confidentiality of this information when it releases it to any other parties entitled to review information in your records.

Access to Records
6. You have the right to access information contained in your medical records within a reasonable time frame and to have the information explained or interpreted as necessary, except as restricted by law.

Access to Care
7. You have the right to expect that, within its capacity and policies, the hospital will make reasonable response to your requests for appropriate and medically indicated care and service.

8. You have the right to ask and 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.

Continuity of Care
9. You have the right to expect reasonable continuity of care when appropriate and to be informed by your physician and other care givers of available and realistic patient care options when hospital care no longer is appropriate.

Hospital Policies & Practices
10. You have the right to be informed of hospital policies and practices that relate to your care, treatment, and responsibilities. You have the right to be informed of available resources for resolving disputes, grievances, and conflicts. You have the right to be informed of the hospital charges for services and available methods of payment.

Complaints
11. You have the right to complain without fear that it will compromise your care or future access to care. To make a complaint, ask a team member for assistance or contact the Quality Management Department at (573)248-5290. In the event you feel your complaint has not been addressed to your satisfaction, you may contact the 

Missouri Dept. of Health
     MO DHSS
     PO Box 570Jefferson City, MO  65102
     573-751-6303
     complaint@health.mo.gov

or the Joint Commission at:
     Office of Quality Monitoring
     1 Renaissance Blvd.
     Oakbrook Terrace, IL  60181
     800-994-6610
     complain@jointcommision.org

12. You have the right to request consultation with the Hospital Bioethics Committee.

Safety & Protection
13. You have the right to receive care in a safe setting. You have the right to request and receive access to protective and advocacy services.

Visitation
14. The hospital allows for the presence of a support individual of the patient’s choice. The hospital will inform each patient, or patient’s chosen designee, of visitation rights. Patients at the hospital have the right to receive any visitors they designate so long as those visitors comply with the rules and standards of the hospital as well as federal, state and local laws.As required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the hospital will not restrict or deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual  orientation, gender identity or disability. All visitors designated by the patient or their representative shall enjoy full visitation privileges equal to those for immediate family members, consistent with patient preferences. The hospital will also inform patients or their representatives of visitation rights and any clinical restrictions on those rights.

Patient Responsibilities
15. Optimal healing requires that you participate in your care by fulfilling certain responsibilities. You are responsible for providing information about past illnesses, hospitalizations, medications, and other matters related to your health status.

Treatment Plan
16. 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 other members of the healthcare team, as they carry out the coordinated plan of care and implement the responsible practitioner’s orders and as they enforce the applicable hospital rules and regulations. You have the responsibility to inform the healthcare team of all prescribed and over the counter medications you are currently taking.

Communication
17. You are responsible for requesting additional information or clarification about your health status or treatment. It is your responsibility to discuss all information, regardless of where you obtained it, with your physician. You are also responsible for informing your physician and other caregivers if you anticipate problems in following the prescribed treatment plan.

Accommodation
18. You, and members of your family, are responsible for making reasonable, accommodations to the needs of the hospital, other patients, medical staff, and hospital employees as it relates to your care, by following the instructions, policies, rules and regulations in place to support quality care and a safe environment.

Hospital Charges
19. You are responsible for providing the necessary information for insurance claims and for working with the hospital to make payment arrangements, when necessary.

Advanced Directives
20. You have the right to have an advanced directive (such as a living will, or durable power of attorney for healthcare) 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. An advance directive is a written or oral statement which allows you to give directions about your future medical care or to designate another person(s) to make medical decisions for you if you lose your decision-making capability.

The following are your rights to advance directives:

• Advance directives will be honored within the capabilities of the hospital.
• You may withdraw or change your advance directive.
• You may formulate new advance directives.
• You may communicate your intent orally or in writing.
• We will not discriminate against you based on whether or not you have executed an advance directive.
• Certain laws of the State of Missouri provide you with specific rights related to advance directives.