Patients' Bill of Rights

Purpose

To ensure patients, or when appropriate, the patient's representative receive notice of the patient's rights in advance of furnishing or discontinuing patient care whenever possible.

Patient's Bill of Rights address the following:

1. The patient has the right to participate in the development and implementation of his or her plan of care.
2. The patient or his or her representative (as allowed under State law) has the right to make informed decisions regarding his or her care. The patient's rights include being informed of his or her health status, being involved in care planning and treatment, and being able to request or refuse treatment. This right must not be construed as a mechanism to demand the provision of treatment or services deemed medically unnecessary or inappropriate.
3. The patient has the right to formulate advance directives and to have hospital staff and practitioners who provide care in the hospital comply with these directives
4. The patient has the right to have a family member or representative of his or her choice and his or her own physician notified promptly of his or her admission to the hospital
5. The patient has the right to personal privacy
6. The patient has the right to receive care in a safe setting
7. The patient has the right to be free from all forms of abuse or harassment
8. The patient has the right to the confidentiality of his or her clinical records.
9. The patient has the right to access their medical records, including current medical records, upon an oral or written request, in the form and format requested by the individual, if it is readily producible in such form and format (including in an electronic form or format when such medical records are maintained electronically); or, if not, in a readable hard copy form or such other form and format as agreed to by the facility and the individual, and within a reasonable time frame.
10. All patients have the right to be free from physical or mental abuse, and corporal punishment.
11. All patients have the right to be free from restraint or seclusion, of any form, imposed as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff.
12. The patient has the right to a pain management plan.
13. The patient has the right to receive visitors. A hospital must:

• A. Inform each patient (or support person, where appropriate) of his or her visitation rights, including any clinical restriction or limitation on such rights, when he or she is informed of his or her other rights under this section.
• B. Inform each patient (or support person, where appropriate) of the right, subject to his or her consent, to receive visitors whom he or she designates, including, but not limited to, a spouse, a domestic partner (including a same sex domestic partner), another family member, or a friend, and his or her right to withdraw or deny such consent at any time.
• C. Not restrict, limit or otherwise deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.
• D. Ensure that all visitors enjoy full and equal visitation privileges consistent with patient preferences.

Complaints/Grievances

You have the right to quick resolution of complaints or grievances. If you wish to file a complaint or grievance, please contact any employee or call (765) 983-3000.

Additionally:

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 509F, HHH Building, Washington, D.C. 20201, (800) 368-1019, or (800) 537-7697 (TDD). Complaint forms are available at hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html.
• DNV Healthcare USA Inc, Attn: Hospital Complaints, 4435 Aicholtz Road, Suite 900, Cincinnati, OH 45345, phone: (866) 496-9647, fax: (281) 870-4818, dnvhealthcareportal.com/patient-complaint-report, or hospitalcomplaint@dnv.com.
• Indiana State Department of Health, Division of Acute Care, 2 N. Meridian St., 4A, Indianapolis, IN 46204, (800) 246-8909, or complaints@isdh.in.gov

No catalog of rights can guarantee for the patient the kind of treatment he or she has the right to expect. A hospital has many functions to perform, including the prevention and treatment of disease, the education of both health professionals and patients, and the conduct of clinical research. All of these activities must be conducted with an overriding concern for the patient and, above all, the recognition of his or her dignity as a human being. Success in achieving this recognition assures success in the defense of the rights of patients.

(Revised 10-2024)