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COOLEY DICKINSON HOSPITAL PATIENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
OUR ORGANIZATION IS COMMITTED TO:
- providing considerate care that safeguards the
personal dignity of our patients and respects
their cultural, psychosocial and spiritual
values; and
- respecting and protecting the rights of our
patients, as established by state and federal law
and by professional standards, without regard to
age, race, color, national origin, language,
culture, citizenship, creed, religion, gender,
sexual orientation, marital status, physical or
mental disability, educational background,
economic status or source of payment.
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Patients of Cooley Dickinson Health Care
Corporation have responsibilities as well.
We bring these responsibilities to your
attention in a spirit of cooperation between
you and our organization.
AS A PATIENT,YOU HAVE THE
RESPONSIBILITY TO:
- provide, to the best of your knowledge, accurate
and complete information about your present
illness and symptoms, medications, hospitalizations,
surgeries, past illnesses, and other matters
relating to your health;
- listen to explanations and ask questions to fully
understand proposed treatment so that you can
make informed decisions about your care;
- follow your treatment plan, or tell your doctor
or nurse if you do not understand the plan or
cannot follow it for any reason;
- understand that you are responsible for your
actions if you refuse treatment;
- respect the privacy of other patients and their
need for a quiet atmosphere;
- respect the property of other persons and our
organization;
- observe the NO SMOKING rules of our
organization; and
- be prompt with payment or make appropriate
arrangements for payment.
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YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO:
- a written copy of these rights when you are
admitted to Cooley Dickinson Hospital;
- freedom of choice in selection of a facility,
physician or health service mode, except in
emergencies, or as otherwise provided by contract
or law, as long as the facility, physician or health
service mode is able to accommodate you;
- obtain, upon request, the name and specialty, if
any, of the physician or other person responsible
for your care or the coordination of your care;
- confidentiality of all records and communications
to the extent provided by law (see the
Cooley Dickinson Health Care Corporation
Notice of Privacy Practices);
- have all reasonable requests responded to
promptly and adequately within the capacity of
the facility;
- receive information, if asked to be a research
subject, about the expected benefits, if any, of
the proposed experimental treatment or
procedure, the potential risks and discomforts,
and alternative services that might prove
advantageous to you;
- privacy during medical treatment or other care
within the capacity of our facility;
- a medical screening examination, necessary
stabilizing treatment and, if necessary, appropriate
transfer to another facility if you have a medical
emergency or are in labor, even if you cannot
pay, do not have medical insurance or are not
entitled to Medicare or Medicaid;
- prompt life saving treatment in an emergency,
whether or not you are already a patient of our
facility, without discrimination on account of
economic status or source of payment and
without delaying treatment to discuss payment
issues unless such delay will not impose material
risk to your health;
- be involved in all aspects of your care and, if
you wish, to have your family participate in
your care and decisions;
- receive from your doctor understandable information
that you need to make informed decisions
about your medical care, including
at least:
- a description of the recommended treatment
or procedure and medically viable alternatives,
if any, and
- the risks, benefits and likely outcomes of the
proposed treatment and alternatives (including
no treatment at all);
- voluntarily consent to, or refuse, treatment,
including life-sustaining treatment, to the extent
provided by law;
obtain, upon request, an explanation of the
relationship, if any, of our facility or your
physician to any other health care facility or
educational institution, including the physician’s
ownership or financial interest, if any, in the
facility or other health care facilities, to the
extent that the relationship relates to your care
or treatment;
- a copy of any rules or regulations of our facility
which apply to your conduct as a patient;
- receive, upon request, information about
financial assistance and free health care;
- inspect, upon request, your medical record and
receive a copy of your medical record for a
copying fee consistent with law or regulation,
- no fee will be charged to you or your representative
if you are an applicant or beneficiary
under any provision of the Social Security Act
or a federal or state financial needs-based
benefit program and you provide reasonable
documentation at the time of your request
that the purpose of your request is to support
a claim or appeal under any provision of
those programs; the record will be provided
within 30 days;
- refuse to be examined, observed, or treated
by students or any other facility staff without
jeopardizing access to psychiatric, psychological
or other medical care and attention;
- refuse to serve as a research subject and to
refuse any care or examination when the primary
purpose is educational or informational rather
than therapeutic;
- make an advance directive to direct your
caregivers in the event that you become
unable to make or communicate your health
care decisions;
- be informed about the outcomes of your care,
including unanticipated outcomes;
- appropriate assessment and management of
pain;
- receive (and have your physician receive),
upon request, an itemized bill or statement
reflecting all charges, payments and third party
reimbursements, and an explanation of the bill,
regardless of the source of payment;
- see on an identification badge the first name,
licensure status, if any, and staff position of all
persons, including students, who examine,
observe or treat you;
- access protective services;
- receive from your physician, if you have breast
cancer, complete information on all alternative
treatments which are medically viable; and
- receive from your physician, if you are
planning to have an operation to insert a
breast implant, information concerning the
disadvantages and risks associated with breast
implantation,
- this information must be given at least ten
days before the breast implant operation,
except in an emergency,
- this information shall include, but not be
limited to, the standardized written summary
provided by the Department of Public
Health,
- you will be asked to sign a statement provided
by the Department of Public Health
acknowledging that you received the
standardized written summary.
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If you are a maternity patient, you have a right, at the time of pre-admission, to receive complete information from Cooley Dickinson Hospital concerning our institution’s:
- annual rates of primary C-sections, repeat
C-sections and total C-sections;
- annual percentage of women who have had
successful vaginal deliveries after having
C-section;
- annual percentage of deliveries in birthing
rooms and labor-delivery-recovery or
labor-delivery-recovery-postpartum rooms;
- annual percentage of deliveries by certified
nurse-midwives;
- annual percentage of deliveries which were
continuously externally monitored only;
- annual percentage of deliveries which were
continuously internally monitored only;
- annual percentage of deliveries which were
monitored both internally and externally;
- annual percentage of deliveries utilizing
intravenous, inductions, augmentation, forceps,
episiotomies, anesthesia (spinal, epidural,
general); and
- annual percentage of women breast-feeding
upon discharge from our hospital.
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If you have concerns about your care you may
call the office of the President/CEO, (413) 582-2000 and ask for the Office of the President. You may also contact the Department of
Public Health, Division of Health Care Quality,
10 West Street, Boston, MA (617) 753-8000,
or the Board of Registration in Medicine,
560 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA (617) 654-
9800.
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