At Valley Presbyterian Hospital, we are committed to delivering the best
care possible to all of our patients. We treat each patient as an individual
and strive to show you the same dignity and respect we would to a member
of our own family. We are committed to facilitating your care through
clear communication between you and the entire health care team. We understand
and respect that you are the ultimate decision-maker for your care. You
have the right to personal consideration, information about your care
and full participation in your plan of care. You, or the person legally
responsible to make decisions regarding your care, should expect the following from us:
As a patient you have the right to:
- Considerate and respectful care, and to be made comfortable. You have the
right to have your cultural, psychosocial, spiritual, and personal values,
beliefs and preferences respected.
- 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 licensed healthcare practitioner acting within the
scope of his or her professional licensure who has primary responsibility
for coordinating your care, and the names and professional relationships
of physicians and nonphysicians who will see you.
- Receive information about your health status, diagnosis, prognosis, 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 nontreatment 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 members of the medical staff, to the extent permitted by law.
- Be advised if the hospital/licensed healthcare practitioner acting within
the scope of his or her professional licensure 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
pain, including opiate medication, if you suffer from severe chronic intractable
pain. The doctor may refuse to prescribe the opiate medication, but if
so, must inform you that there are physicians who specialize in the treatment
of 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
patients’ 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
healthcare requirements and options following discharge from the hospital.
You have the right to be involved in the development and implementation
of your discharge plan. Upon your request, a friend or family member may
also be provided this information.
- Know which hospital rules and policies apply to your conduct while a patient.
-
Designate a support person, as well as visitors of your choosing, if you
have decision-making capacity, whether or not the visitor is related by
blood, marriage, or registered domestic partner status, unless:
(a) No visitors are allowed.
(b) The hospital reasonably determines that the presence of a particular
visitor would endanger the health or safety of a patient, a member of
the hospital staff, or other visitor to the hospital, or would significantly
disrupt the operations of the hospital.
(c) You have told the hospital staff that you no longer want a particular
person to visit. However, the hospital may establish reasonable restrictions
upon visitation, including restrictions upon the hours of visitation and
number of visitors. The hospital must inform you (or your support person,
where appropriate) of your visitation rights, including any clinical restrictions
or limitations. The hospital is not permitted to restrict, limit, or otherwise
deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin,
religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.
- Have your wishes considered, if you lack decision making capacity, for
the purposes of determining who may visit. The method of that consideration
will comply with federal law and be disclosed in the hospital policy on
visitation. At a minimum, the hospital shall include any persons living
in your household and any support person pursuant to federal law.
- 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,
gender identity/expression, disability, medical condition, marital status,
registered domestic partner status, genetic information, citizenship,
primary language, immigration status (except as required by federal law)
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 by calling. Please send written requests to: Valley
Presbyterian Hospital, Attn: Risk Management Department, 15107 Vanowen
Street, Van Nuys, CA 91405 or by calling 818.902.5745. The grievance committee
will review each grievance and provide you with a written response within
30 days. The written response will contain the name of a person to contact
at the hospital, the steps taken to investigate the grievance, the results
of the grievance process, and the date of completion of the grievance
process. Concerns regarding quality of care or premature discharge will
also be referred to the appropriate Utilization and Quality Control Peer
Review Organization (PRO).
- File a complaint with the California Department of Public Health or Det
Norske Veritas (DNV) regardless of whether you use the hospital’s
grievance process:
California Department of Public Health
Licensing & Certification Office 3400 Aerojet Ave., Unit 323
El Monte, CA 91731
Phone: 626.312.1106 or Information Hotline: 800.236.9747
Accreditation Agency
DNV GL Healthcare
Attn: Complaints
400 Techne Center Drive, Suite 100
Milford, OH 45150
Phone: 866.496.9647
Website:
www.dnvglhealthcare.com/patient-complaint-report
Email:
hospitalcomplaint@dnvgl.com
Institute for Medical Quality
221 Main Street, Suite 210
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: 415.882.5151
Email:
liacopi@img.org
Dept. of Health and Human Services
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
7500 Security Blvd. Mail Stop S2-12-25
Baltimore, Maryland 21244-1850
Phone: 800.633.4227
Patient Safety Hotline
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
Phone: 213.288.7233
Email:
patientsafety@dhs.lacounty.gov
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Your responsibilities as a patient:
As a patient at Valley Presbyterian Hospital, you have the responsibilities for:
- Being considerate to all hospital personnel and other patients and to ensure
that your visitors are also considerate to other patients and hospital
personnel.
- Observing all hospital rules.
- Supplying accurate and complete medical history information to your physicians
and others. You have the responsibility to participate in your care in
order to make informed choices. If you do not follow the treatment plan
agreed upon, you have the responsibility to understand the consequences
of your actions.
- You have the responsibility to notify your physician or other health care
providers if the designated treatment plans cannot be followed or you
have any changes in your health status.
- Keeping appointments and the responsibility for informing the hospital
when you cannot keep your appointment.
- Providing information necessary to ensure processing bills by the hospital
and to plan for the payment of those bills as soon as possible.
If you have any questions about your rights and responsibilities, if our
policies need clarification, or if you have any questions, concerns, complaints
or suggestions, please call the hospital operator (O) and ask for a Service
Representative or the House Supervisor.
SOURCES: Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations and the Joint Commission, DNV