Patient Rights and Responsibilities

All patients have been endowed with rights and responsibilities regarding their health care services and will be informed of them before treatment begins or during the initial evaluation visit.

As a home care client, you have the right to:

• Exercise your rights as a patient of the home health agency.
• Have your property treated with respect.
• Have cultural, psychosocial, spiritual and personal values, beliefs and preferences respected.
• Be informed, in advance, about the care to be provided and any changes in that care, including the disciplines that will provide care and the frequency of visits proposed to be furnished.
• Be advised, in advance, of the right to participate in the planning of care and treatment and planning changes in the care or treatment.
• Confidentiality of your clinical information to ensure appropriate release or review under Federal or State law.
• Be informed of your rights in a manner which you understand.
• Have communication needs met.
• Choose whether or not to participate in research, investigational or experimental studies, or clinical trials.
• Be informed, before care is initiated, of the extent to which payment for home health

Services may be expected from Medicare or other sources, and the extent to which payment may be required from the patient. Before care is initiated, the home agency must inform the patient, orally and in writing of:

• The extent to which payment may be expected from Medicare, Medicaid, or any other federally funded or aided program known to the home health agency.
• The charges for services that will not be covered by Medicare.
• The charges for services that the individual may have to pay.
• Refuse care, to the extent permitted by law, and to be informed of the possible consequences of the decision.
• Be advised both orally and in writing of the availability of the toll-free home health hotline in the state; be furnished a telephone number, and the hours of its operation; and be told the purpose of the hotline is to receive complaints or questions about local home health agencies.
• Privacy and security.
• Appropriate assessment and management of pain.
• Voice grievances about care without reprisal.
• Formulate an Advance Directive, and to be informed of the agency’s policy regarding Advance Directives.
• Freedom from mental, physical, sexual and verbal abuse, neglect and exploitation.

As a home care client, you have the responsibility to:

• Provide a safe environment for the provision of care for the home care staff.
• Keep all weapons in the home away from the work area during visits made by the home health staff.
• Secure aggressive or menacing pets before the home health staff enters the home.
• Repair hazardous structural barriers.
• Provide complete and accurate information to home care staff.
• Inform the home health provider when you are unable to keep an appointment for a home care visit.
• Communicate health related concerns and problems to the home care staff.
• Participate in developing and adhere to the home health care plan.
• Request information about anything that you do not understand, and express to your home care agency any concerns or problems regarding your home care services.
• Be accountable for your outcomes if you refuse care or do not follow the plan of care.

The home health agency will protect and promote the exercise of your rights and responsibilities.