Patient Bill of Rights

Southeast Alabama Medical Center takes the varied needs, concerns and questions of every patient very seriously. To that end, we have created the following Patient Bill of Rights. Every patient has:

The right to notification of his or her rights.

The right to exercise individual rights regarding care.

The right to be informed of the policies and procedures governing patient conduct and duties.

The right to be informed of services available, the charges for these services, charges not covered by a payer and charges not included in the basic room rate.

The right to be informed by a physician of his/her medical condition unless the physician orders otherwise. The patient can expect to be advised if the hospital proposes to engage in, or perform, human experimentation affecting his/her care or treatment. (The patient is given the opportunity to take part in planning his/her care or treatment, and given the choice of participating in experimental research to include refusal to participate in research projects.)

The right to receive from his/her physician information necessary to give informed consent prior to the start of any procedure and/or treatment.

The right to formulate advance directives (which may include living wills, durable power of attorney for healthcare decisions or similar documents portraying his/her preference) and to designate a representative decision maker in the event the patient becomes medically incompetent.

The right to refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and to be informed of the medical consequences of his/her action.

The right to expect that every consideration of his/her privacy regarding medical program, case discussion, consultation, examination and treatment are confidential, and should be treated discreetly. Those not directly involved in his/her care should have permission from the patient to be present.

The right to expect that, within its capacity, the hospital must make a reasonable response to the request of a patient for service. When medically permissible, a patient may be transferred to another facility only after he/she has received complete information and explanation concerning the needs for, and alternatives to, such a transfer. The institution to which the patient is to be transferred must first have accepted the patient for transfer.

The right to care and treatment in a safe environment.

The right to expect reasonable continuity of care. The patient has the right to expect that the hospital will provide a mechanism whereby he/she is informed by his/her physician (or delegate of physician) of the patient's continuing healthcare requirements following discharge.

The right to know at all times the identity, professional status and professional credentials of healthcare personnel, as well as the name of the healthcare provider primarily responsible for his/her care.

The right to be informed of the facility's rules and regulations pertinent to patient and visitor conduct. The patient should be informed of smoking rules and can expect compliance with those rules from other individuals. Patients may expect information about the healthcare facility's mechanism for the initiation, review and resolution of a patient complaint.

The right to examine and receive an explanation of his/her bill regardless of source of payment.

The right to be treated with consideration, respect and full recognition of dignity and individuality, including treatment and caring, or personal needs.

The right to designate a legal representative to act in his/her behalf.

The right to freedom from restraints used in provision of acute medical and surgical care unless clinically required.

The right to freedom from restraints used for the management of behavior unless clinically required.

The right to have reports of pain accepted, and acted upon, by health care professionals.