At UI Hospitals and Clinics, we provide expert medical care in an environment where you can expect quality service, personal respect, and consideration for your family and visitors. It is our sincere hope that your experience here will be comfortable and beneficial.
Our patients have many rights and responsibilities. To obtain a brochure of Patients’ Rights and Responsibilities or share a concern or complaint, please contact any staff member or call the Patient Representative Program at 6-1802 from a hospital phone.
Patients’ Rights
Regarding your medical care, you have the right to:
- Considerate and respectful care
- Be treated with dignity and participate fully in all aspects of your care
- Receive information about your diagnosis, medical condition, and treatment in terms that you can understand
- Be given an explanation of all procedures and to be informed about the outcome of your care
- Receive information about pain and pain relief
- Receive assessment and management of your pain.
- Receive a timely response from your doctor or nurse whenever you report pain or discomfort
- Request treatment
- Refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and to be informed of the possible consequences of the refusal
- Know the names and professional titles of your caregivers
- Request a change of your health care provider
- Obtain a second opinion if you choose
- Medical care without discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, or disability
Regarding your care in a teaching hospital, you have the right to:
- Be aware that UI Hospitals and Clinics is a teaching institution
- Know that resident physicians, medical students, student nurses, and other supervised health care providers in training may become involved in your care and treatment
- Ask if any of your health care providers are in training
Regarding decision-making and advance directives, you have the right to:
- Make informed decisions about your care or designate a representative to make decisions for you
- Receive information about advance directives including a living will and durable power of attorney
- Set up advance directives and have them followed
Regarding the use of experimental treatment, you have the right to:
- Receive a full explanation of any experimental methods of diagnosis and/or treatment offered to you for consideration
- Consent to or refuse experimental treatment or research activities. If you refuse, your future access to quality health care will not be compromised.
Regarding your personal needs, you have the right to:
- Personal privacy
- Prompt, reasonable, and courteous responses to any request for services within the capacity of the hospital
- Receive care in a safe and secure environment, and be free from physical or mental abuse, harassment, and corporal punishment
- Be free from restraint or seclusion except in a situation where your own safety or the safety of others must be protected
- Be free from restraint or seclusion of any form, used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff
- Use the services of an interpreter and have access to assistive devices, when needed
- Be provided with sufficient, nutritious, and palatable food, with consideration given to religious and medical requirement
- Meet with clergy or other spiritual advisors
- Uncensored and unobstructed communication by telephone, letter, or in person with any willing party except as provided by law
- Choose and be provided with recreational and educational activities
Regarding your physician, family, friends, or personal partner, you have the right to:
- Have contact with family members, friends, or personal partner
- Request that your family or a representative of your choice be notified of your admission to the hospital
- Request that your own physician be notified of your admission to the hospital. With your consent, we will send to your physician reports concerning your diagnosis, treatment, and continuing health care requirements.
Regarding your records and bill, you have the right to:
- Confidentiality regarding your clinical and personal records
- View your medical records within the limits of the law
- An explanation of all items on your bill
Regarding your discharge planning, you have the right to:
- Be involved in discharge planning from the time of admission
- Receive information about continuing health care needs and planning for care after leaving the hospital
- Work with members of the Department of Social Service and other care providers, as needed, concerning your transfer to alternate health care organizations upon discharge from UI Hospitals and Clinics
Regarding problem resolution, you have the right to:
- Express concerns, complaints, or grievances regarding your care or service experience to the hospital staff or to a member of the Patient Representative Program
- Request that a complaint be treated as a grievance
- Receive a written response to a grievance
Patients’ Responsibilities
Regarding your medical care, you are responsible for:
- Providing accurate and complete information about all matters pertaining to your health, including medications, and past or present medical problems
- Reporting changes in your condition or symptoms, including pain, to a member of the health care team
- Asking your doctor or nurse what to expect regarding pain assessment and pain treatment options
- Informing your doctor or nurse when you are having pain and asking for pain relief measures when pain or discomfort first begins or is not relieved by prescribed treatment measures
- Following the instructions and advice of your health care team. If you refuse treatment or do not follow the instructions or advice, you must accept the consequences of your decisions
- Identifying and reporting any safety concerns that may affect your care
- Notifying a member of the health care team if you do not understand information about your care or treatment
- Informing your physician, nurse, or other health care provider if you are not satisfied with any aspect of your care
- Participating in the planning of your care, including discharge planning
- Providing timely information regarding your health insurance
- Paying your bills or making arrangements with UI Hospitals and Clinics to meet your financial obligations in a timely manner
- Keeping your scheduled appointments or canceling your appointments in advance, when possible
Regarding your personal behavior, you are responsible for:
- Acting in a considerate and cooperative manner.
- Respecting the rights and property of others.
- Following the policies and procedures of UI Hospitals and Clinics affecting your care.
Confidentiality
All patient medical information, whether stored electronically, in the medical record, or obtained by any other means, is treated as private and confidential. All UI Hospitals and Clinics staff members take precautions to assure the privacy and confidentiality of patients.
Your personal health information is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Information about your diagnosis, treatment, and condition will not be released unless you give prior consent. Patient privacy has always been a top priority at UI Hospitals and Clinics, and the HIPAA privacy regulations provide additional ways to guarantee that patient privacy is a top priority for all health care providers.
Complaints and Grievances
It is the responsibility of all UI Hospitals and Clinics staff to listen to patient concerns and the concerns voiced by family members or visitors, to ensure a thorough review, and to provide a response that describes how the issue(s) were reviewed and actions that were taken to resolve. Patients who express a concern complaint, or grievance, will not have their future access to care compromised in any way. Grievances may be submitted verbally or in writing.
To share a concern or complaint, please contact any staff member or contact the Patient Representative Program at 319-356-1802, by e-mail at patient-reps@uiowa.edu or by mail to UI Hospitals and Clinics 200 Hawkins Drive, C100-A GH, Iowa City, IA 52242.
If you have a further concern about the quality of your care, you may contact the Iowa Department of Inspections and appeals in Des Moines at 515-281-4115.
If you feel your concern about safety or quality of care provided in the hospital has not been adequately addressed, you may also report your concern to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
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