PATIENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Patient Rights and Responsibilities

Patient Rights

Providing reasonable access to care:

• The Clinic will provide care that is within its capacity, its stated mission and philosophy, and applicable law and regulations.
• Care that is not within the Clinic’s scope of services may be provided by Contract Health Services, according to the policies, procedures, rules and regulations that govern that Service and that are in effect at the time care is needed.
• Patients have the right to choose a personal primary provider or dentist, and to change primary provider or dentist if other qualified providers are available.
• Patients with disabilities or handicaps have a right to equal access to care and facilities.

Delivering care that respects the patient’s preferences, personal values and belief systems:

• The Clinic shall ensure that provision of patient care reflects consideration of the patient as an individual with personal value and belief systems that impact upon his/ her attitude toward and response to the care that is provided.
• The Clinic will honor the patient’s wishes regarding participation in his or her care by Indian or other native healers, subject to applicable law and regulations.
• Patients have a right to join in decisions to receive, or not receive, life-sustaining treatment, including care at the end of life.
• Advance directives will be honored by health care professionals and designated representatives within the limits of the law and the Clinic’s mission and philosophy.
• Services provided to neonate, child and adolescent patients shall facilitate the family’s and/or guardian’s involvement in decision making throughout the course of treatment.
• Patients have the right to decline to participate in experimental research.
• Patients have the right to lodge complaints or grievances about their care, without fear of retribution. The Clinic will provide information about the policies and procedures regarding the complaint and grievance process, upon request.

Obtaining informed participation of the patient in decisions regarding his or her care:

• This process is based on a partnership with the care providers, to facilitate informed decision making by the patient or his/her designated representative(s).
• The patient has the right to information about the risks and benefits of, and alternatives to, the course of treatment and care recommended by his or her provider, including the risks of non-treatment. The patient must consent before treatment and care are rendered, and that consent must be documented in the patient’s health record.
• Patients have the right to information concerning the qualifications and credentials of health care providers.
• Patients have a right to complete information regarding their diagnosis, evaluation, treatment and prognosis, to the degree known.
• Minors who are 14 or older have the right to consent to health care treatment related to pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, behavioral health, and substance abuse. In situations where a minor has the right to provide consent, parental/guardian notification and consent is not required.

Ensuring personal privacy and confidentiality of information:

• Patients have the right: To be interviewed, examined and treated in surroundings designed to give reasonable visual and auditory privacy. To have access to his/her health record and to have his/her health record read only by individuals directly involved in his/her care or by individuals who are monitoring the quality of the patient’s care, or by individuals who may read the health record only with the patient’s written consent or that of a legally authorized or designated representative.

• Patients also have the rights and responsibilities described in the Tulalip Tribes “Notice of Privacy Practices”.
• The Clinic must secure the patient’s permission to obtain needed medical and personal information.
• Knowing who the patient has designated as his or her representative decision maker in the event the patient is incapable of understanding a proposed treatment or procedure or is unable to communicate his or her wishes regarding care; Patients may designate another individual to act on their behalf in the event they become unable to speak for themselves.

Patient Responsibilities

Patients: Patients are partners in their care and have certain responsibilities.

• Patients are responsible for their own wellness and health, and are expected to follow treatment plans and participate in decisions involving their health care, except when such participation is not recommended for clinical reasons.
• Patients are responsible for providing accurate information regarding their health history, medications, past illnesses and treatments.
• Patients are responsible for providing accurate information regarding their health insurance or other payer source, if applicable.
• Patients are responsible for their own behavior. They are expected to refrain from inappropriate behavior, including verbal abuse (including the use of obscenities), physical abuse, intimidation, or any action that threatens staff, patients, or visitors emotionally or physically.
• Patients are responsible for making and keeping appointments, and for notifying the Health Clinic, or any outside provider to whom the patient is referred, in a timely manner if an appointment cannot be kept.