Your Privacy Is Important to Us
Your Medical Treatment Rights/Patient Rights
You have the right to:
- Considerate and respectful care,
and to be made comfortable. You have the right
to respect for your cultural, psychosocial,
spiritual, and personal values, beliefs, and preferences.
- Have
a family member (or other representative of your
choosing) and your own physician notified promptly
of your
admission to the hospital.
- Know the name of the physician
who has primary responsibility for coordinating
your care and the names and professional
relationships of other physicians and non-physicians
who will see you.
- Receive information about your health status,
course of treatment, prospects for recovery and
outcomes of care
(including unanticipated outcomes) in terms you
can understand. You have the right to effective communication
and to participate
in the development and implementation of your plan
of care. You have the right to participate in ethical
questions
that arise in the course of your care, including
issues
of conflict
resolution, withholding resuscitative services,
and forgoing or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment.
- Make decisions
regarding medical care, and receive as much information
about any proposed treatment or procedure
as you may need in order to give informed consent
or to refuse a course of treatment. Except in emergencies,
this
information
shall include a description of the procedure or
treatment,
the medically significant risks involved, alternate
courses of treatment or non-treatment and the risks
involved in
each, and the name of the person who will carry
out the procedure
or treatment.
- Request or refuse treatment, to the extent
permitted by law. However, you do not have the
right to demand inappropriate
or medically unnecessary treatment or services.
You have the right to leave the hospital even against the
advice
of physicians, to the extent permitted by law.
- Be advised
if the hospital/personal physician proposes to
engage in or perform human experimentation affecting your
care or treatment. You have the right to refuse
to
participate in such research projects.
- Reasonable responses to any reasonable
requests made for service.
- Appropriate assessment and
management of your pain, information about pain,
pain relief measures and to participate in pain
management decisions. You may request or reject
the use of any or all modalities to relieve the pain, including
opiate
medication, if you suffer from severe chronic intractable
pain. The doctor may refuse to prescribe opiate
medication,
but if so, must inform you that there are physicians
who
specialize in the treatment of severe chronic pain
with methods that include the use of opiates.
- Formulate advance
directives. This includes designating a decision
maker if you become incapable of understanding
a proposed treatment or become unable to communicate
your wishes regarding care. Hospital staff and practitioners
who provide care in the hospital shall comply with
these
directives.
All patient rights apply to the person who has
legal responsibility to make decisions regarding medical
care
on your behalf.
- Have
personal privacy respected. Case discussion,
consultation, examination and treatment are confidential
and should
be conducted discreetly. You have the right to be
told the
reason for the presence of any individual. You
have the right to
have visitors leave prior to an examination and
when treatment issues are being discussed. Privacy curtains
will be used
in semi-private rooms.
- Confidential treatment of all communications
and records pertaining to your care and stay in the
hospital. You will
receive a separate “Notice of Privacy Practices” that
explains your privacy rights in detail and how we may
use and disclose your protected health information.
- Receive care
in a safe setting, free from mental, physical,
sexual or verbal abuse and neglect, exploitation or harassment.
You have the right to access protective and advocacy
services
including notifying government agencies of neglect
or
abuse.
- Be
free from restraints and seclusion of any form
used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience or
retaliation
by staff.
- Reasonable continuity of care and to know in advance
the time and location of appointments as well as
the identity of the persons providing the care.
- Be informed by the physician,
or a delegate of the physician, of continuing
health care requirements following discharge
from the hospital. Upon your request, a friend
or family member may be provided with this information
also.
- Know
which hospital rules and policies apply to your
conduct while a patient.
- Designate visitors of your choosing,
if you have decision making capacity, whether
or not the visitor is related by
blood or marriage, unless:
- No visitors are allowed.
- The facility reasonably determines
that the presence of a particular visitor would endanger
the health or safety
of a patient, a member of the health facility staff or
other visitor to the health facility, or would significantly
disrupt the operations of the facility.
- You have told
the health facility staff that you no longer want a
particular person to visit. However, a health facility
may establish reasonable restrictions upon visitation,
including restrictions upon the hours of visitation and
number of visitors
- Have
your wishes considered, if you lack decision-making
capacity, for the purposes of determining who may
visit. The method of that consideration will be disclosed
in the
hospital policy on visitation. At a minimum,
the hospital shall include any persons living in your household.
- Examine
and receive an explanation of the hospital’s
bill regardless of the source of payment.
- Exercise these
rights without regard to sex, economic
status, educational
background, race, color, religion, ancestry,
national origin, sexual orientation or
marital status or the source of payment for care.
- File a
grievance. If you want to file a grievance with this
hospital, you may do so by writing or calling:
- File a complaint
with the state Department of Health Services regardless
of whether
you use the hospital’s
grievance process. The state Department of Health
Service’s
phone number and address is:
These
Patient Rights combine Title 22 and other California
laws, Joint Commission and Medicare Conditions
of Participation
requirements. (3/04)
Please contact customer service if you need this information
in Spanish.
Your Clinical Health Information Rights
Protecting
your privacy is important to Riverside Physician Network.
Effective April 14, 2003, all health care facilities
and physicians are required by law to protect the privacy
of your medical record and other health information and
to
provide you with notice of their legal duties and privacy
practices with respect to your Protected Health Information.
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL
INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW
YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.
PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
Riverside Physician Network
(RPN) and its affiliates, are required by law to maintain
the privacy of your health
information
and to provide you with notice of their legal duties
and privacy practices with respect to your Protected Health
Information
(PHI). PHI is any health information, which is identifiable
to you. If you have questions about any part of this
notice
or if you want more information about the privacy practices
at RPN, please contact the Provider Relations Manager.
Effective Date of This Notice: April 14, 2003
I. How RPN may Use or Disclose Your Health Information
RPN collects PHI from you and stores it in a chart and on
a computer. This is your medical record. The medical record
is the property of RPN, but the information in the medical
record belongs to you. RPN protects the privacy of your PHI.
The law permits RPN to use or disclose without written authorization
your PHI for the following purposes:
- Treatment.
RPN is a primary care medical group that offers a full
spectrum of health care treatment and services, using
a provider network of employed and contracted physicians,
as well as contracted hospitals and specialty medical/surgical
services ("Business Associates"). Medical treatment
includes but is not limited to:
- Preventive care (immunizations, flu shots, histories
and physicals, screening exams, etc.)
- Diagnostic treatment (x-rays, lab tests, etc.)
- Specialty care (home health, dialysis, physical
therapy)
- Surgery
- Palliative/hospice care
- Payment. We may use and disclose PHI
to provide payment for services that we provide to
you. Payors are: insurance
companies (including HMOs, PPOs, Medicare, etc.)
employers, and others who arrange or pay the cost of some
or all of
your
health care. Your insurance company may release
some or all of your PHI to the primary policy holder.
- Regular
Health Care Operations. Your PHI will be provided
to RPN employees or "business associates" who
participate in meeting your health care needs. This includes
but is not limited to: scheduling appointments, appointment
reminders, greeting you on arrival, assisting your physician
during the office visit, arranging referrals, and transcribing
and maintaining your records. We may use your PHI to
evaluate the quality and competence of our physicians,
nurses, and
other health care workers.
- Information Provided to You. Upon your
signed authorization, information will be released to you.
- Notification and Communication with Family.
We may disclose your PHI to a family member, your personal/legal
representative (one who has a valid Power of Attorney
for Health Care, a conservator, or a guardian) or another
person
responsible for your care. If you are able and available
to agree or object, we will give you the opportunity
to object prior to making this notification. If you are
unable
or unavailable to agree or object, our health professionals
will use their best judgment in communication with
your family and others.
- Required by Law. As required by law,
we may use and disclose your PHI.
- Public Health. As required by law, we
may disclose your PHI to public health authorities
for purposes related to: preventing or controlling disease,
injury or disability; reporting child abuse or neglect;
reporting domestic violence; reporting to the Food
and
Drug Administration problems with products and reactions
to medications; and reporting disease or infection exposure.
- Health Oversight Activities. We may
disclose your PHI to health agencies during the course
of audits, investigations, inspections, licensure,
and other proceedings.
- Judicial and Administrative Proceedings.
We may disclose your PHI in the course of any administrative
or judicial proceeding.
- Law Enforcement. We may disclose your
PHI to a law enforcement official for purposes such
as identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive, material
witness
or missing person, complying with a court order or
subpoena and other law enforcement purposes.
- Deceased Person Information. We may
disclose your PHI to coroners, medical examiners, and
funeral directors.
- Organ Donation. We may disclose your
PHI to organizations involved in procuring, banking,
or transplanting organs and tissues.
- Research. We may disclose your PHI to
researchers conducting research that has been approved
by an Institutional Review Board.
- Public Safety. We may disclose your
PHI to appropriate persons in order to prevent or lessen
a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety
of a particular person or the general public.
- Worker's Compensation. We may disclose
your PHI as necessary to comply with worker's compensation
laws.
- Marketing. We may contact you to provide
appointment reminders or to give you information about
other treatments or health-related benefits and services
that may be of interest to you.
- Change of Ownership. In the event that
RPN is sold or merged with another organization, your
PHI/record will become the property of the new owner.
II. When RPN May Not Use or Disclose Your Health Information
Except
as described in this Notice of Privacy Practices, RPN
will not use or disclose your PHI without your written authorization.
If you do authorize RPN to use or disclose your PHI for another
purpose, you may revoke your authorization in writing
at
any
time.
III. Your Health Information Rights
- You have the right to request restrictions on certain
uses and disclosures of your PHI. However, RPN is not
required
to agree to the restriction that you requested.
- Upon written request, you have the right to receive your
PHI through a reasonable alternative means or at an alternative
location.
- You have the right to inspect and request a copy of your
PHI. You should take note that, if you are a parent or
a legal guardian of a minor, certain portions of the minor's
medical record will not be accessible to you.
- You have a right to request that RPN amend your PHI that
is incorrect or incomplete. RPN is not required to change
your PHI and will provide you with information about the
RPN denial process, and how you can disagree with the denial.
- You have a right to receive an accounting of disclosures
of your PHI made by RPN, except that RPN does not have
to account for the disclosures described in parts 1 (treatment),
2 (payment), 3 (health care operations), and 4 (information
provided to you), of section I of this Notice of Privacy
Practices.
- You have a right to a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy
Practices.
If you would like to have a more detailed explanation of these rights or if you
would like to exercise one or more of these rights, contact the Provider Relations
Manager.
IV. Changes to this
Notice of Privacy Practices
Riverside Physician Network
reserves the right to amend this Notice of Privacy Practices
at any time in the future,
and
to make the new provisions effective for all information
that it maintains, including information that was created
or received
prior to the date of such amendment. Until such amendment
is made, RPN is required by law to comply with this Notice.
V. Complaints
Complaints about this Notice of Privacy Practices or how
Riverside Physician Network handles your PHI should be directed
to the RPN Patient Services Department.
If you are not satisfied
with the manner in which this office handles a complaint,
you may submit a formal complaint to:
Office of Civil Rights
Hubert H. Humphrey Bldg.
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Room 509F HHH Building
Washington, DC 20201 |
You may also address your complaint to one of the regional
Offices for
Civil Rights.
|
