The purpose of this course is to prepare healthcare professionals to incorporate patient rights into their practice and patient education.
Upon completion of this self-study module, the participant will be able to:
Patients have both rights and responsibilities when it comes to their health
The purpose of this course is to prepare healthcare professionals to incorporate patient rights into their practice and patient education.
Upon completion of this self-study module, the participant will be able to:
Patients have both rights and responsibilities when it comes to their health and the health care services they receive. On March 26, 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed an Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in Health Care Industry. The Commission issued its final report, Quality First: Better Health Care for All Americans, in March 1998. As part of its work, the Commission issued a Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. This document was intended to serve as a blueprint for how systems and procedures that aim to protect consumers and ensure the quality of care could be improved. This Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities expressed three goals:
Patients have the right to care, treatment, and services that safeguard their personal dignity and respect their cultural, psychosocial and spiritual values. These values often affect the patient’s treatment needs and preferences. By understanding and respecting patients and their values, providers can help meet the patient’s needs for treatment and services and protect the patient’s rights. Many health plans, including all the plans sponsored by the Federal government, have adopted these general principles. The Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities also lists specific rights and responsibilities that Federal health plans and others have adopted. Under the Conditions of Participation - CMS (Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services) requires participating hospitals to protect and promote the rights of patients, meaning that patients must be informed of their rights before they accept or refuse treatment. Sometimes, a patient is not able to communicate directly. In this case, patient rights should be discussed with the patient’s legal representative. Patients must be able to understand information about their rights. Some patients need special help to understand. For example, patients who do not speak English have the right to a medical translator or translated materials. They have this right by law. Patient rights fall into seven general areas:
The premise of informed consent is that patients have a moral, legal and ethical right to understand and agree with all aspects of their care, and that includes all potential consequences of accepting or refusing care. The history of informed consent goes back to 1914 when a doctor removed a tumor from the abdomen of a patient who had given consent only to a diagnostic procedure. The case went to court, and the judge ruled in favor of the patient, stating that the doctor was liable for battery because he had, “violated an individual’s fundamental right to decide what is being done with his or her body.” A later case in 1950 that questioned whether a patient was given sufficient information to reach a decision, and raise the issue of potential negligence, laid out the basic components of informed consent.1
Patients in health care facilities have the right to accurate and easily understand information about their health plan, health care professionals and health care facilities. If they speak another language, have physical or menta