As a patient, you have certain rights. Some are guaranteed by federal law, such as the right to get a copy of your medical records, and the right to keep them private. Many states have additional laws protecting patients, and healthcare facilities often have a patient bill of rights.
An important patient right is informed consent. This means that if you need a treatment, your health care provider should give you the information you need to make a decision.
Many hospitals have patient advocates who can help you if you have problems. Many states have an ombudsman office for problems with long term care. Your state's department of health may also be able to help.
- Patient's Bill of Rights(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/mit/content/mit_3_2_patients_bill_of_rights.asp
- When Health Care Providers May Communicate About You with Your Family, Friends, or Others Involved in Your Care(Dept. of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights) - Links to PDF - http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/consumer_ffg.pdf
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Patient Care Partnership: Understanding Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities(American Hospital Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.aha.org/aha/content/2003/pdf/pcp_english_030730.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://www.aha.org/aha/content/2003/pdf/pcp_spanish_031008.pdf
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Know Your Rights(Center for Mental Health Services) - http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/ken98-0051/default.asp
Also available in Spanish http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/KEN-98-0051SP/default.asp
- Mental Health Patient's Bill of Rights: Principles for the Provision of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Services(American Psychological Association) - http://www.apa.org/topics/rights/
- Rights and Protection and Advocacy Frequently Asked Questions(Center for Mental Health Services) - http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/P&A/
- Guide to Understanding Informed Consent(National Cancer Institute) - http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/AGuidetoUnderstandingInformedConsent/Page2
- How to Get a Second Opinion(National Women's Health Information Center) - http://womenshealth.gov/Tools/SecondOpinion.cfm
- Informed Consent(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/eto/content/eto_1_2x_informed_consent.asp
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Medication Assisted Treatment Patients' Rights(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - http://www.dpt.samhsa.gov/patients/pscep/patients_rights.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.dpt.samhsa.gov/patients/pscep/patients_rights_es.htm
- Quick Tips—When Getting Medical Tests(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/quicktips/tiptests.htm
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Informed Consent(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/intervention=%22informed+consent%22
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Embracing insulin. It's a miracle drug. So why do so... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18788128&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Impairment and severity: how ED physicians decide to override an... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18774048&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Nepal: Supreme Court makes landmark decisions on LGBTI rights and... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18754128&tool=MedlinePlus
- Patient Rights -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(patient+rights[majr]+OR+patient+advocacy[majr])+NOT+(informed+consent[mh]+OR+right+to+die[mh]+OR+patient+compliance[mh]+OR+patient+participation[majr]+OR+patient+freedom+of+choice+laws[mh])+AND+english[la]+NOT+(news[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt]+OR+letter[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Freedom of choice laws -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=patient+freedom+of+choice+laws[mh]+AND+english[la]&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+5+Years&tool=MedlinePlus
- Informed consent -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=informed+consent[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+(jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline+[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+news[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- National Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center(Administration on Aging) - http://www.ltcombudsman.org/static_pages/ombudsmen.cfm
- Your Medicare Rights and Protections(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) - Large PDF file - http://www.medicare.gov/publications/pubs/pdf/10112.pdf
- Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program(Administration on Aging) - http://www.aoa.gov/eldfam/elder_rights/LTC/LTC.aspx
- End of Life Issues - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/endoflifeissues.html
- Family Issues - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/familyissues.html
- Patient Safety - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/patientsafety.html
- Personal Medical Records - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/personalmedicalrecords.html
- Health System - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/healthsystem.html
- Personal Health Issues - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/personalhealthissues.html