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The Patient's Bill of Rights
These rights can be exercised on the
patient’s behalf by a designated surrogate or proxy decision maker if the patient
lacks decision-making capacity, is legally incompetent, or is a minor. The Patient's Bill of Rights
reads as follows:
- The patient has the right to considerate and respectful care.
- The patient has the right to and is encouraged to obtain from physicians
and other direct caregivers relevant, current, and understandable information concerning
diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.
Except in emergencies when the patient lacks decision-making capacity and the need for
treatment is urgent, the patient is entitled to the opportunity to discuss and request
information related to the specific procedures and/or treatments, the risks involved, the
possible length of recuperation, and the medically reasonable alternatives and their
accompanying risks and benefits.
- Patients have the right to know the identity of physicians, nurses, and
others involved in their care, as well as when those involved are students, residents, or
other trainees. The patient also has the right to know the immediate and long-term
financial implications of treatment choices, insofar as they are known.
- The patient has the right to make decisions about the plan of care prior
to and during the course of treatment and to refuse a recommended treatment or plan of
care to the extent permitted by law and hospital policy and to be informed of the medical
consequences of this action. In case of such refusal, the patient is entitled to other
appropriate care and services that the hospital provides or transfer to another hospital.
The hospital should notify patients of any policy that might affect patient choice within
the institution.
- The patient has 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.
Health care institutions must advise patients of their rights under state law and hospital
policy to make informed medical choices, ask if the patient has an advance directive, and
include that information in patient records. The patient has the right to timely
information about hospital policy that may limit its ability to implement fully a legally
valid advance directive.
- The patient has the right to every consideration of privacy. Case
discussion, consultation, examination, and treatment should be conducted so as to protect
each patient's privacy.
- The patient has the right to expect that all communications and records
pertaining to his/her care will be treated as confidential by the hospital, except in
cases such as suspected abuse and public health hazards when reporting is permitted or
required by law. The patient has 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 these records.
- The patient has the right to review the records pertaining to his/her
medical care and to have the information explained or interpreted as necessary, except
when restricted by law.
- The patient has the right to expect that, within its capacity and
policies, a hospital will make reasonable response to the request of a patient for
appropriate and medically indicated care and services. 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 a patient has so requested, a
patient may be transferred to another facility. The institution to which the patient is to
be transferred must first have accepted the patient for transfer. The patient must also
have the benefit of complete information and explanation concerning the need for, risks,
benefits, and alternatives to such a transfer.
- 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 payers that may influence the patient's treatment and care.
- The patient has 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. A patient who declines to participate in research or experimentation is entitled
to the most effective care that the hospital can otherwise provide.
- The patient has the right to expect reasonable continuity of care when
appropriate and to be informed by physicians and other caregivers of available and
realistic patient care options when hospital care is no longer appropriate.
- The patient has the right to be informed of hospital policies and
practices that relate to patient care, treatment, and responsibilities. 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. The patient has the right to be informed of the hospital's
charges for services and available payment methods.
The collaborative nature of health care requires that patients, or their
families/surrogates, participate in their care. The effectiveness of care and patient
satisfaction with the course of treatment depend, in part, on the patient fulfilling
certain responsibilities. Patients are responsible for providing information about past
illnesses, hospitalizations, medications, and other matters related to health status. To
participate effectively in decision making, patients must be encouraged to take
responsibility for requesting additional information or clarification about their health
status or treatment when they do not fully understand information and instructions.
Patients are also responsible for ensuring that the health care institution has a copy of
their written advance directive if they have one. Patients are responsible for informing
their physicians and other caregivers if they anticipate problems in following prescribed
treatment.
Patients should also be aware of the hospital's obligation to be reasonably efficient
and equitable in providing care to other patients and the community. The hospital's rules
and regulations are designed to help the hospital meet this obligation. Patients and their
families are responsible for making reasonable accommodations to the needs of the
hospital, other patients, medical staff, and hospital employees. Patients are responsible
for providing necessary information for insurance claims and for working with the hospital
to make payment arrangements, when necessary.
A person's health depends on much more than health care services. Patients are
responsible for recognizing the impact of their life-style on their personal health. Hospitals have many functions to perform, including the enhancement of health status,
health promotion, and the prevention and treatment of injury and disease; the immediate
and ongoing care and rehabilitation of patients; the education of health professionals,
patients, and the community; and research. All these activities must be conducted with an
overriding concern for the values and dignity of patients.
A Patient's Bill of Rights was first adopted by the American Hospital Association in
1973.
This revision was approved by the AHA Board of Trustees on October 21, 1992.
© 1992 by the American Hospital Association, One North Franklin Street, Chicago, IL
60606. Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. Catalog no. 157759.
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