PATIENT RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES
Clients and Providers Have a Right to Dignity and Respect
Home care clients and their formal caregivers have a right to not be discriminated against based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, or handicap. Furthermore, clients and caregiver’s have a right to mutual respect and dignity, including respect for property. Caregivers are prohibited from accepting personal gifts or borrowing from clients.
Clients have the right to:
- To have relationships with home care providers based on honesty and ethical standards of conduct;
- To be informed of the procedure they can follow to lodge complaints with the home care provider about lack of respect for property and for care that is, or fails to be, furnished;
- To know about the disposition of such complaints;
- To voice their grievances without fear of discrimination or reprisal for having done so;
- To be advised of the telephone number and hours of operation of the State’s home health hotline, which receives complaints or questions about local home care agencies. You may call 24 hours a day at 1-800-624-3004;
- To be advised of the telephone number to report a complaint about quality of care, you may call the Joint Commission Office of Quality Monitoring at 1-800-994-6610 or online at www.jcaho.org;
For additional agency information, you may contact ask for the Director of Performance Improvement at 910-362-9405. For TTY users, please call1-800-735-2962.
DECISION MAKING
Clients have the right:
- To be notified about the care that is to be furnished, the types (disciplines) of caregivers who will furnish the care, and the frequency of the visits that are proposed to be furnished;
- To be advised of any change in the plan of care before the change is made;
- To participate in the planning of care and in planning changes in the care, and to be advised that they have the right to do so;
- To be informed in writing of rights under State law and to make decisions concerning medical care including the right to accept or refuse treatment and the right to formulate advance directives;
- To be informed in writing of policies and procedures for implementing advance directives including an limitations if the provider cannot implement an advance directive on the basis of conscience;
- To have health care providers comply with advance directives in accordance with State law requirements;
- To receive care without condition on, or discrimination based on, the execution of advanced directives and to refuse services without fear of reprisal or discrimination.
The home care provider or the Client’s physician may be forced to refer the client to another source of care if the Client’s refusal to comply with the plan of care threatens to compromise the provider’s commitment to quality care.
PRIVACY
Clients have the right:
- To confidentiality of information about their health, social, and financial circumstances and about what takes place in the home; and
- To expect the home care provider to release information only as required by law or authorized by the Client.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Clients have the right:
- To be informed of the extent to which payment may be expected from Medicare, Medicaid, or any other payor known to the home care provider;
- To be informed of the charges that will not be covered by Medicare;
- To be informed of the charges for which the Client may be liable;
- To receive this information orally and in writing before care is initiated within 30 working days of the date the home care provider becomes aware of any changes in charges;
- To have access, upon request, to all bills for services the client has received regardless of whether the bills are paid out-of-pocket or by another party.
QUALITY OF CARE
Clients have the right:
- To receive care of the highest quality;
- In general, to be admitted, by a home care provider only if it has the resources needed to provide the care safely and at the required level of intensity, as determined by a professional assessment; a provider with less than optimal resources may nevertheless admit the client if a more appropriate provider is not available, but only after fully informing the client of the provider’s limitations and the lack of suitable alternative arrangements; and
- To be told what to do in case of emergency;
- To professional pain assessment and management.
The home care provider shall assure that:
- All medically related home care is provided in accordance with physician’s orders and that a plan of care specifies the services, their frequency and duration; and
- All medically related personal care is provided by an appropriately trained home care aide who is supervised by a nurse or other qualified home care professional.
Client Responsibility
- To notify the agency of changes in condition;
- To follow the plan of care;
- To notify the agency if the visit schedule needs to be changed;
- To inform the agency of the existence of any changes made to advance directives;
- To advise the agency of any problems of dissatisfaction with the services provided;
- To provide a safe environment for care to be provided, (e.g. leash vicious dogs, refrain from illegal activities, etc.);
- To carry out mutually agreed upon responsibilities;
- To be present at the agreed upon visit time and call the home health care office if you are not going to be home for a scheduled visit;
- To remain under the care of a physician and inform the nurse or therapist of any changes in orders which you receive from your physician;
- To participate in decision making regarding your care and assist in the development and revision of your plan of care;
- To provide the agency staff with all known health insurance information;
- To inform and provide agency care providers with copies of any advance care documents (e.g. Living Will, Health Care Power of Attorney) you may have;
- To inform the agency supervisory staff of and to secure all valuables and money;
- To carry out mutually agreed upon responsibilities; and
- To behave in a manner that is reasonable, considering the nature of Client illness.
ETHICS
An ethical dilemma occurs when a choice must be made among two or more actions and there are good reasons for each of the choices. Our Ethics Group includes people from the community as well as home health staff members. After consultation, they can offer recommendations to you. If you or your caregivers have an ethical dilemma about your health care, you may request an ethics consultation by asking your health care worker or calling the office and speaking to a supervisor.
PATIENT CONCERNS
Home health staff members make every effort to provide quality services to all patients. If you are unhappy with any of our services, please call our office at 910-362-9405 or 1-888-815-5310 (TTY users should call 1-800-735-2962) and ask to speak with the Director of Performance Improvement to help resolve your concern.
