Health care providers have
a special responsibility to be an advocate for patients and ensure that
patients’ rights are protected.
UT
Southwestern Medical Center has established specific patient rights and
responsibilities to help preserve patients’ comfort and well-being.
Patient Bill of Rights and
Responsibilities
Patients
have the right to:
- A reasonable response to requests and need
for treatment or services, within UT Southwestern’s capacity, its stated
missions, and applicable law
- Considerate and respectful care with the
assurance of privacy, confidentiality, and reasonable continuity
- Be informed of hospital rules and receive
information about the hospital’s patient bill of rights, its policies, and its
mechanism for the initiation, review, and, when possible, resolution of patient
complaints concerning the quality of care
- Be given an explanation of billed services
- Make or have the representative (as
allowed under state law), in collaboration with the physician, make informed
decisions regarding the patient’s care
- Be informed of health status, be involved
in treatment and discharge planning, and be able to request to refuse treatment
- Collaborate with physicians and accept
medical care or refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and be informed
of the medical consequences of such refusal
- Participate in ethical questions that
arise in the course of care
- Formulate advance directives and appoint a
surrogate to make health care decisions on the patient’s behalf to the extent
permitted by law, and have hospital staff and practitioners who provide care in
the hospital comply with these directives
- Be informed about any human
experimentation or other research or educational projects affecting care or
treatment
- Have a family member, friend, or personal physician
notified promptly of any admissions to the hospital, if patients so request
- Receive care in a safe setting that is
free from all forms of abuse or harassment
- Access information contained in medical
records within a reasonable time frame, while also maintaining confidentiality
of patients’ medical records within the limits of the law
- Be free from seclusion or restraints of
any form, whether a physical restraint or a drug, that are not medically
necessary or that are used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or
retaliation by staff
- Have the nature, intensity, frequency,
location, and duration of pain and suffering assessed and appropriately managed
- Have the guardian, next of kin, or legally
authorized responsible person exercise, to the extent permitted by law, the
rights delineated on the patient’s behalf if the patient is a minor, is medically
incapable of understanding the proposed treatment in the opinion of the
patient’s physician, is unable to communicate his/her wishes regarding
treatment, or has been found incompetent in accordance with the law
- Receive respectful and effective
communication provided in a way the patient can understand, including access to
interpreters and translation services, and to receive written information that
is appropriate to the patient’s age, understanding, and needs due to vision,
speech, hearing, language, or cognitive impairments
- Have spiritual services available to help the
patient directly or to contact the patient’s own clergy
Patients
have the responsibility to:
- Provide complete and accurate information
regarding personal information, such as full legal name, address, telephone
number, date of birth, Social Security number, health insurance coverage, and
employer when required, and pay bills in a timely manner; also to provide
complete and accurate information regarding health and medical history such as
present condition, past illnesses, changes in condition, hospital stays,
medications, and vitamins
- Provide the hospital or the doctor with a
copy of the advance directive, if the patient has one
- Leave valuables at home and bring only the
necessary items for the hospital stay
- Remain free of the influence of or
possession of illegal drugs, alcohol, or a weapon while on the premises of this
facility
- Refrain from operating hospital equipment
without specific staff education and appropriate supervision
- Follow infection control procedures, both
for patients and their visitors, and learn about health issues and treatment
- Actively participate in the pain
management plan and inform medical staff of the effectiveness of the treatment
- Comply with all physicians’ requests and
acknowledge that patients’ failure to comply with treatment times or schedules,
medications, diet and fluid restrictions, and other orders might correlate with
declining health or possibly death
- Cooperate with the staff member assigned
to provide care for the patient; if patients are uncomfortable with a specific
staff member assigned to their care, they should notify the manager of their concern(s)
Patients
and their families must be considerate of hospital and clinic staff and
property, as well as the rights of other patients and their property.
University Hospitals and hospital-based clinics maintain no tolerance for any
threats, threatening behavior, or acts of violence by patients, their family
members, visitors, volunteers, or employees.
