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Important Information
Patient Rights and Responsibilities
Addressing Financial Concerns
Office of Patient Advocates
Ethics Consultation
Discharge Planning
Advanced DIrective/Health Care Proxy
Patient Rights and Responsibilities:
Saint Vincent Hospital and its entire staff respect your rights as a patient, recognizing you as an individual with unique health care needs. Our goal is to give you the care that is right for your illness and to help you get well as soon as possible.
The rights and responsibilities listed below are a summary of your rights under Massachusetts Law, called the Patient Bill of Rights, and standards of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. By exercising your rights and responsibilities you help us give you the best care while you are in the hospital.
These Are Your Rights:
· You have the right to be treated in a caring and respectful way, without regard to race, religion, cultural values, disability, sex or age.
· You have the right to know the names of the people who are taking care of you and how they will help you or provide care for you. This is also true if you are taken care of by students, resident doctors, or other people in training.
· You have the right to make decisions regarding your medical care, including the decision to discontinue treatment. You have the right to take part in the research study or to say no if you do not want to take part.
· You have the right to create an advance directive/health care proxy, which tells the hospital and doctor who you want to make decisions for you if you are even unable to do so. Upon admission, if you already have an advance directive, please provide the hospital with a copy which will be placed in your medical record.
· You have the right to receive the ethics consultation service which is available to assist you and your family in making ethical decisions.
· You have the right to be examined in private by your doctor or other health care giver and you have the right to talk to your doctor in private.
· You have the right to personal safety and secure environment while you are at Saint Vincent Hospital.
· You have the right to confidentiality of your medical record, which will only be released when authorized by you. You have the right to review your medical records and get a copy for a reasonable fee.
· You have the right to receive information relative to financial assistance and request an itemized bill reflecting charges form the physician and/or facility.
· You have the right to fairly and openly voice your concerns or complaints when the quality of the care or services that you have received does not meet your expectations. If you present a complaint, your care will not be affected in any way. Also, if you have a problem that you cannot solve with your doctor, your nurse, or other care giver, you may contact:
The Office of Patient Advocates at (508)363-6308
The Office of Patient Advocates is a department that receives, researches and responds to complaints by patients of Saint Vincent Hospital. In addition to complaint management, The Office of Patient Advocates receives and forwards compliments from patients about staff.
These Are Your Responsibilities:
While it is the commitment of Saint Vincent Hospital and our staff to honor and respect your rights as a patient, you also have the responsibility to help make your care a positive health experience and assure the optimum outcome. Saint Vincent Hospital expects you to:
- Be honest with us and provide complete and accurate information about your present illness, including previous hospitalizations and anything else you know about your health that would help us treat you
- Ask questions of any member of your treatment team until you have a complete understanding what they are saying to you; also please tell your physician if you cannot follow the plan.
- Respect the right of other patients to get medical care without being disturbed. Telephones and television should be used in a manner that is agreeable to your roommate.
- Refrain from using cellular phones in patient care areas and observe the no smoking policy and do both only in specially designated areas for such activity. These regulations apply to both: patients and visitors
- Comply with all the hospital’s rules and regulations as they relate to your care, safety and conduct as a patient.
- Give the hospital all the information they will need and promptly fulfill your financial obligations that you incur while in the hospital, to the extent of your ability to pay.
To file a complaint about your care you may contact:
Saint Vincent Hospital Mass Dept of Public Health
Office of Patient Advocates Div of Health Care Quality
123 Summer Street 99 Chauncey Street, 2nd floor
Worcester, MA 01608 Boston, MA 02111
Tel. (508) 363-6308 Tel. (800) 462-5540
Joint Commission on Accreditation The Com of Massachusetts
Of Healthcare Organizations Board of Reg in Medicine
Division of Accreditation Operations 560 Harrison Avenue
1 Renaissance Blvd. Boston, MA 02118
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 Tel. (617) 727-3086
Fax : (630) 792-5636
Email : complaint@jcaho.org
If you need a translation of this document, please call the Interpreter Services at x28695
· Prawa i Obowiązki Pacjenta – jeśli potrzebujesz pomocy w ich tłumaczeniu, zadzwoń pod numer telefonu (508) 363-8695, w szpitalu: 28695
· Derechos y Responsabilidades Del Paciente – Si usted necesita una traducción de este documento, por favor llame al servicio de intérpretes al (508) 363-8695, y dentro del hospital al 28695.
· Neu qui vi can dich la thu nay, xin vui long goi Van Phong Thong Dich so (508) 363-8695, trong nha thuong so 28695.
Addressing Your Financial Concerns:
Saint Vincent Hospital will automatically bill your insurer directly for hospital services, provided that you have furnished the Admitting staff with complete and correct insurance information. If the services are rejected by your insurance carrier, the hospital will bill you.
A copy of your insurance card should be presented upon admission to guarantee proper billing. If for any reason you are unable to provide all of your insurance information at the time of your admission, please contact the Admitting department representative at 508-363-7415.
Any charges for professional services by your private doctor involved with your medical care will be separate form your hospital bill.
If you have no insurance, contact our Financial Counseling department at 508-363-7285 or 508-363-7183 for help with applying for any state or federal assistance programs or the hospital's free care program for which you may qualify. Each circumstance can be different.
If you have questions or concerns about your bill, contact a personal billing representative at 508-757-5199.
Compliments, Concerns, Questions or Suggestions:
Office of Patient Advocates:
Our goal at Saint Vincent Hospital is to provide the best care and service possible. Your opinion is important to us. If you have a suggestion, question, compliment or complaint about any aspect of your hospitalization, we would appreciate hearing from you. The information you provide is used to help us improve the care that we deliver. We value what you have to say and we welcome your call.
The Office of Patient Advocates was created to provide a link between you and Saint Vincent Hospital Administration. Patient Representatives have the authority to share your compliments with staff or to look into your complaint. The Office of Patient Advocates is responsible for managing the hospital’s patient complaint process.
You may contact the Office by calling extension 26308, from Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. During evenings or weekends, you may contact our Nursing Administrator through the operator. At any time you may ask to speak with the Office Manager.
Notary Public services for patients and families are also available through our office.
Ethics Consultation:
What Is An Ethics Consult? Making decisions amid all the complexities of modern medicine is seldom easy, whether for trained clinicians or for patients and/or their families. Ethical questions often arise, for instance, when a patient has lost the capacity to make decisions or when it is not clear whether the burdens of treatment are worth the expected benefits the treatment might bring. Ethics consultation is an advisory service that is designed to aid patients, the family and even members of the hospital staff in identifying, analyzing and resolving the ethical dilemmas that arise in the course of hospitalization.
How Do You Request A Consult? While you are hospitalized, you can request ethics consultation primarily through your nurse or, if you prefer call the hospital operator and ask her to page Ethics Consultant on call. This service is available 24 hours-a-day and any day of the week. For further information or if a problem is encountered, please call ext. 26246 or from outside the hospital 508-363-6246. A consultant will be on-call each week. Upon receiving your request, the ethicist will make initial inquiries and, if necessary, arrange for a meeting of the principals involved that is appropriate to the needs that the initial inquiry revealed.
Discharge Planning:
Your right for help with planning for your post-hospital discharge needs.
The Case Management Department is your resource at Saint Vincent Hospital to make your transition out of the hospital safe and efficient. Each hospital unit has a nurse Case Manager and Social Worker to assist you and your family with planning for that discharge.
How Discharge Planning Works at Saint Vincent Hospital
A nurse Case Manager and/or a Social Worker will:
1. Meet with you to talk about your medical condition and what services you may need for after hospital care.
2. Talk with you and your doctor to determine the type of services and where the best place is to get the care that matches what you need. This may be at home with visiting nurses, in a nursing home, at a rehabilitation hospital, or in an outpatient clinic. This may also include medical equipment such as oxygen or a wheelchair, intravenous drug or a connection to other community services. This is called the Discharge Plan.
3. Give you choices of the agencies, hospitals or nursing homes that are licensed and approved to provide you with good care.
4. Ask you to sign a form that permits them call the agencies, hospitals or nursing homes on your behalf.
5. Talk to your Insurance Company representative to be sure you have the benefits and their approval for the services. Some insurances have dollar or day limits, require co-payments and have limitations on the places you may receive care. If you need more information about you insurance coverage or if for any reason the Insurance representative does not agree with the Discharge Plan, the Case Manager and/or Social Worker will help you work out these issues.
6. Make the arrangements for the services and inform you of the details. In some instances you or a family or friend may be asked to decisions or do some of the follow-up on your own. Sometimes a nursing home does not have a bed available at your first choice so the others will be tried. If you qualify for ambulance transportation, that will be arranged.
Your responsibilities:
1. Answer honestly about you situation and how you are coping. We can not help you if you do not tell us what you need.
2. Your time in the hospital will be very short. Most patients are here less than 5 days. So it is important that you have family or someone you trust nearby and ready to assist you.
3. Our discharge time is before 11:00 am. Have someone bring your clothes the night before and be here to accompany you or provide transportation.
If you have any questions, your nurse can contact the Case Manager or Social Worker assigned to you or you can call the Case Management Department from any phone by extension 26101 from your bedside phone.
Advanced Directive / Massachusetts Health Proxy:
When you were admitted to the hospital, you may have been asked if you have an advanced directive or health care proxy. Below is information to help you understand the purpose of this important information.
What is Health Proxy?
A health proxy is a legal document in which you give someone else the authority to make healthcare related decisions for you when you are unable to make your own choices. This person is called your health care agent.
When is a Health Proxy used?
A health care agent will begin making decisions for you only after your doctor determines, in writing, that you are unable to make your own decisions. Your physician will discuss your medical condition with your agent and make decisions based on your choices and beliefs.
Why do I need a Health Proxy?
When you cannot make decisions for yourself, it is important that we have a legal record of who you would like to make decisions for you. A Health Proxy provides your doctor with the name(s) of the person(s) who you wish to be involved with health care related decisions.
Ideally, this discussion should take place before you are in the hospital, but this may not always be possible.
Who can be a Health Care agent?
Under the Massachusetts State Law (MGL, Chapter 201D) any competent adult 18 years of age or over may appoint a Health Care Proxy. You can appoint any adult EXCEPT the administrator, operator or employee of a health care facility such as a hospital or nursing home where you are a patient or resident UNLESS that person is also related to you by blood, marriage or adoption.
Completing the Health Proxy document
You do not need to have a lawyer present to complete the document.
You may obtain a Health Care Proxy form from the Admitting Office.
If you need help to complete the form or change your health care agent while you are in the hospital, your nurse may contact support staff to assist you.
Don’t forget ….
Ø The Health Care Proxy form is a legal document.
Ø Please bring a copy of your Health Proxy document to the Hospital when you come
Ø Please discuss your health care choices with your physician and family.
Thank you for your help. We want to be sure that we have all the right information about you to make all the right decisions about your health care.
Massachusetts Health Decisions, 1999
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