During Your Visit
Your Health Care Team
You are the center of everything we do, with a circle of highly-trained physicians and staff committed to your personalized care.
It’s easy to identify the members of your care team by the color of their uniforms.
- Navy scrubs: Nurses
- Green scrubs: Patient care technicians
- Black/Gray scrubs: Imaging and rehabilitation services
- Teal scrubs: Lab staff
- Blue smock: Housekeeping
Accommodations
Each element of your stay has been designed with your comfort and well-being in mind.
Your Call Button
For your convenience, you will find a call button near your bed. A member of your care team will visit your room every hour during the day, and every two hours throughout the night. You may hear our staff refer to this as “rounding.” Should you need assistance between these visits, please press your call button.
Pain Management
It is important to us for you to remain comfortable enough to rest and heal, yet participate in the activities needed to recover. This often requires both medication and non-medication techniques. We have a host of services available, including pain clinicians, an outpatient pain clinic and nurse pain champions. Please inform your nurse if you would like more information.
Medications
Keeping an accurate record of your medications is critical to your treatment. During your stay your physician will prescribe all necessary medications. Each time you receive medicine while in the hospital, your nurse will scan the bar code on your arm band to ensure accuracy and track dosage.
Federal regulations require MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center to ensure the safety of all medicine you take while in our care. If you brought medication with you, we ask that you send it home with someone, or your nurse will lock it up to keep it secure.
Communication Boards
Each patient room includes a dry-erase board to help communicate information among the patient, family and health care team. Please feel free to use this resource to share information and make note of questions or concerns.
Meals
Please refer to the menu for meal selections, ordering instructions and hours of service. If you are unable to order your meal on your own – or you need other assistance – please notify a member of your care team.
Your visitors may also order meals for delivery to your room. More information about in-room dining options for guests can be found on page 13 of this guide.
Housekeeping
A member of our environmental services staff will clean your room daily. If there is a facility- related problem in your room, please tell a member of your care team and it will be taken care of as soon as possible.
Quiet Environment
Our staff makes every effort to help contain noise in and around patient rooms. You may hear unfamiliar sounds that are part of care provided at a hospital. We understand this may be a distraction to your rest, and therefore, we offer several items to provide comfort and reduce noise. Please speak with your nurse for more information, or if you have a concern.
For Your Safety: 12-Hour Bed Alarm Policy
While in the hospital you may experience risks for falling, even if you haven’t experienced them before. Medications, unfamiliar surroundings, decreased strength and other factors can lead to falls. For patient safety, our hospital policy is to activate a patient bed and/or chair alarm during the first 12 hours after admission to the hospital (except in some specialty areas), as well as after any procedure involving sedation. For additional information about how your care team can help prevent falls, please speak with your nurse.
Staying Connected
Each patient room is equipped with a telephone.* We will provide you a phone number to share with your loved ones. Local phone calls can be made free of charge from your room by first dialing “9” for an outside line.
Long distance calls must be paid for at the time of service. To call collect or by using a credit card, dial “55,” wait for the dial tone, then dial “00.” A long-distance operator will come on the line to assist you. To use a calling card, follow the instructions on the card.
Wireless internet (Wi-Fi): MercyOne Des Moines provides a free high-speed internet connection for patients and guests. Select “Guest” from the available networks on your wireless device. No password is required. Charging stations for electronic devices are conveniently located throughout the hospital and may be used free of charge.
Other Important Information
Personal belongings & valuables: Help us protect your personal belongings and valuables. We recommend a loved one hold your keys, wallet, personal papers, home medications, jewelry and other items not essential to your stay. We appreciate your understanding that MercyOne Des Moines is not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged personal property.
Weapons: MercyOne prohibits weapons of any kind on the property. Contact our public safety department at 515-247-3111 to have weapons placed in locked storage during your stay.
Tobacco use: For the health and comfort of our patients, guests and staff, smoking, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes, etc., are not allowed on MercyOne Des Moines property. Speak with your nurse or doctor about options if you are uncomfortable not using tobacco products during your stay.
On-Site Amenities
We are pleased to offer a variety of convenient services and amenities for you and your visitors.
Parking & Valet Services
Parking is free for patients and guests in the North Visitor Parking Lot, in the East Visitor Parking Lot, and in the three ramps – West, East and North. Find detailed information on the MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center central campus map and at MercyOne.org/desmoines.
Valet parking for patients: Valet parking is available free of charge to patients, Monday- Friday, at the following locations:
• West Entrance: 7 a.m.-3 p.m.
• East Tower Entrance: 7 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Medical Plaza South Entrance: 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
• Medical Plaza West Entrance: 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
To collect your keys from the valet after hours, contact our public safety department at 515-247-3111.
Chapel
Our Lady of Mercy Chapel is open 24/7 for all patients and guests and is located on Level 1 in the Main Building. The schedule of services is posted near the door.
ATM
ATMs are located in the Main Building Lobby, Level 1, and in the Atrium Level A of the Des Moines Health Plaza.
Mail Service & Deliveries
If you receive mail or packages as a patient, a MercyOne Des Moines volunteer will deliver these items to you. Patients and guests with outgoing, pre-stamped mail can drop it off at our mail room, located on Level A of the Main Building. A U.S. Post Office mailbox is located near the Main and West Entrances.
Notary Services
Notary publics are available. Please speak with your nurse if this service is needed.
Outpatient Pharmacy
The MercyOne Des Moines Pharmacy is conveniently located on Level 1 in the Main Building Lobby, near the Main Entrance. Our outpatient pharmacy offers prescription services, over-the-counter medications and health care products, as well as medication counseling to all patients and visitors. MasterCard, Visa and most prescription insurance cards are accepted.
Lost & Found
If you have lost an item during your stay, or found something that doesn’t belong to you, please visit our public safety department in the Main Building, Level A, or call 515-247-3111.
For Your Guests
Please share the following helpful information with those visiting you while in the hospital.
Visiting Hours
Visits by loved ones support the well-being of our patients. To support an environment of healing, visiting hours for most hospital units are between 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Visitors arriving between 9 p.m.-6 a.m. should enter the hospital through the emergency department entrance or the East Tower entrance.
Children: Children may visit patients on most floors and units. However, we ask for children under the age of 14 be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Call to prevent falls: While at the hospital, visitors are encouraged to be active participants in patient care. However, for the safety of all, we request visitors not move patients in or out of bed or chairs without the assistance of the patient’s nurse.
When it is time for a visitor to leave the patient’s room, we encourage them to notify a member of the care team. Thank you for your assistance.
Staying in Touch
There are several options available to communicate with patients and stay informed about their care.
Calling a patient’s room: Patients may be contacted by calling our main switchboard at 515-247-3121. The patient’s first and last name will be required to transfer the call.
CaringBridge®: We have partnered with CaringBridge® to offer free personalized websites to those wishing to stay in touch with family and friends during significant life events. For more information, visit caringbridge.org.
Your Hospital Bill
We want to ensure you understand every aspect of your care, from registration, to treatment, to billing. Additional information is available at MercyOne.org/desmoines. If you have questions regarding a MercyOne Des Moines billing statement, please call the Billing Customer Service business office at 877-721-6504.
Understanding Your Statement
Professional fees: In some cases, you will receive multiple statements for a single date of service. Many insurance companies require specific billing information to process claims to the carriers’ requirements. Fees for physicians and other professionals involved in your care will not be reflected in the statement of fees charged by MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. You should expect to receive separate bills from each physician, including (but not limited to):
• Primary care physicians
• Specialty care physicians
• Pathologists
• Radiologists
• Anesthesiologists
• Advanced practice nurses
• Physician assistants
• MercyOne Des Moines Laboratory
Insurance
To ensure your most recent information is on file, we will ask to make a copy of your insurance card each time you are admitted to the hospital. We appreciate your cooperation in having any other forms of original documents (e.g., claim forms, authorizations, referrals) required by your insurance carrier also readily available. Please be aware of any exclusions, benefits, co-payments and deductibles that are part of your insurance plan.
Medicare: If covered by Medicare, you will receive a bill for any remaining balance after we have received payment from Medicare and your supplemental insurance. You are responsible for any applicable deductibles, co-payments or other amounts not covered by Medicare or your supplemental insurance carrier.
We must follow strict guidelines when billing Medicare, including:
• Asking questions to determine if Medicare should be listed as the primary or secondary insurance.
• Confirming any test or procedure ordered by your doctor is medically necessary under Medicare guidelines.
Medicaid: If you have Medicaid, you must be eligible for coverage at the time of service and present a card for the current month. If your Medicaid card shows you have additional insurance, you are required to present this insurance card at the time of registration. We will bill your account to Medicaid. Payment for all associated non-covered portions and spend-down requirements are the responsibility of the patient.
No insurance: Financial assistance is available for patients without insurance who meet income guidelines. For additional information, including how to obtain an application for financial assistance, contact MercyOne Des Moines’ Payment Financial Counseling department at 515-247-4199.
Your Rights & Responsibilities
By taking an active role, you become a partner in your health care. We will gladly answer any questions or concerns you may have to ensure understanding.
We value each individual patient’s rights to considerate, respectful care in a safe setting. It is our policy that these rights be respected, and no patient be required to waive these rights as a condition of treatment.
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate, exclude or treat people differently on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex.
For full disclosure, please refer to the Patient Rights and Responsibilities booklet. You may also find information on MercyOne.org/desmoines.
If you have any questions about your rights or responsibilities as a patient, or as parent or legal guardian of a minor adult or patient at MercyOne Des Moines, please contact the Patient Advocate at 515-643-2861.
Your Privacy
We are required by federal law to maintain the privacy of your medical information and offer you our Notice of Privacy Practices, describing how medical information about you may be used and disclosed, and how you can get access to this information. This notice is available in a separate booklet offered to you at the time you are admitted to the hospital. You may also find information about our privacy practices at any time on MercyOne.org/desmoines.
“No Publicity Status”
Patients who wish to have complete privacy and avoid all outside contacts may sign a “No Publicity Status” form. In this case, our staff will neither confirm nor deny a patient’s presence at a hospital to anyone, by phone or in person. Room and telephone numbers will not be provided, and received items, such as flowers, mail and other packages, will be returned to the sender. Please speak with your nurse if you would like additional information about your status.
