Patient Rights and Responsibilities

The following principles guide us in caring for our patients at MercyOne Centerville Medical Center. If you are not satisfied that these principles of care are being adequately followed, please contact the administration office, extension 3411.

Your patient rights:

1. You shall be accorded impartial access to treatment or accommodations that are available or medically indicated, regardless of race, creed, sex, national origin, disability, religion or source of payment for care. you may exercise your cultural and spiritual beliefs as long as they do not interfere with the well-being of others or the planned course of your medical therapy.
2. You have the right to considerate, respectful care at all times and under all circumstances.
3. You have the right to be informed of the patient rights in advance of furnishing or discontinuing patient care whenever possible.
4. You have a right to file a grievance and to be informed of the process to review and resolve the grievance.
5. You have the right to participate in the development and implementation of your plan of care.
6. You have the right to know the identity of the physician or other practitioner primarily responsible for your care, as well as the identity and professional status of others providing services while you are here.
7. You or your representative have the right to make informed decisions regarding your care, including being informed of your health status, involved in care planning and treatment, and being able to request or refuse treatment. This right must not be construed as a mechanism to demand the provision of treatment or services deemed medically unnecessary or inappropriate.
8. You have the right to formulate advance directives and to have hospital staff and practitioners who provide care in the hospital comply with these directives.
9. You have the right to have a family member or representative of your choice and your physician notified promptly of your admission to the hospital.
10. You have the right to consult with a specialist at your own request and expense.
11. You have the right to personal privacy.
12. You have the right to receive care in a safe setting.
13. You have the right to be free from all forms of abuse or harassment.
14. You have the right to the confidentiality of your clinical records.
15. You have the right to access information contained in your clinical records within a reasonable time.
16. You have the right to be free from restraints and seclusion of any form that are not medically necessary or are used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff.
17. You have the right to send and receive unopened mail and to have reasonable access to a telephone to receive and place confidential calls.
18. You have the right to receive visitors at any reasonable hour or times other than established visiting hours, particularly at times of critical illness.
19. You shall be informed if the hospital proposes to engage in or perform human experimentation or other research/educational projects affecting one’s care or treatment, and shall have the right to refuse to participate in any such activity.
20. You may not be transferred to another facility unless a complete explanation of the need for the transfer and the alternatives to such a transfer are given, and unless the transfer to the other facility is acceptable.
21. Regardless of the source of payment for care, you have the right to request and receive an itemized and detailed explanation for the bill for services rendered in the hospital. you have the right to timely notice prior to termination of eligibility for reimbursement by any third-party payor for the cost of care.
22. You have the right to the appropriate assessment and management of pain.

You also have responsibilities as a patient

• You are responsible to provide accurate and complete medical information regarding your health status.
• You are responsible to follow recommended treatment plans.
• You are responsible to abide by hospital rules and regulations affecting patient care and conduct and be considerate of the rights of other patients and hospital personnel.
• You are responsible to fulfill your financial obligations as soon as possible following discharge.
• Swing Bed Rights - will be presented at time of admission if you qualify for these services.

Advance Directives

Questions about medical care at the end of life are of great concern today. The growing ability of medical technology to prolong life and highly publicized legal cases involving comatose patients whose families wanted to withdraw treatment have brought attention to this issue. Many people want to avoid extending personal and family suffering through artificial prolongation of life for those in a vegetative state with no hope of recovery. The best way for you to retain control in such a situation is to record your preferences for medical care in advance.

The patient self-Determination act of 1990 requires hospitals to inform patients about advance directives. advance directives are documents written in advance of serious illness that state your choices for health care, or name someone to make those choices, if you become unable to make decisions. Through advance directives such as living wills and durable powers of attorney for health care, you can make legally valid decisions about your future medical treatment.

For more information or to request a living will and health care power of attorney forms, contact social services at extension 3444.

Business and Professional Behavior

MercyOne Centerville Medical Center is committed to providing healthcare services to the community in an environment that is based on fair and ethical principles of service. policies and procedures addressing the hospital’s code of ethical business and professional behavior are available upon request. You may request those by calling extension 3411.

MercyOne does not discriminate, exclude, deny benefits to or otherwise discriminate against any person on the ground of race, color, or national origin, or on the basis of disability or age in admission to, participation in, or receipt of the services and benefits of any of its programs and activities or in employment therein, whether carried out by MercyOne Centerville Medical Center directly or through a contractor or any other entity with whom MercyOne Centerville Medical Center arranges to carry out its programs and activities.