Unit 8: Lesson 3: The Patient

Lesson 3: The Patient

Lesson 3: The Patient

The health sciences focus on the patient, including the health, disease diagnosis, treatments, and other aspects of the patient's care. Within this relationship between health science professionals and the patient, patients are accorded the autonomy to decide on their health concerns. Laws and policies such as The Patient's Bill of Rights, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, informed consent and advance directives help protect patients in the United States.

Patients have certain rights under these legal and ethical mandates. The Patient's Bill of Rights is a set of expectations that educate patients on what to expect from a healthcare provider and setting. The Bill of Rights began in the 1970s and provides information on different aspects of care. Although some of the expectations in The Patient's Bill of Rights are legal, others are less formal and based on ethical expectations.

The Patient's Bill of Rights generally covers seven different areas of expectations for patients. Specific bill of rights documents may focus on other areas, such as a bill of rights for healthcare insurance concentrates on those areas that pertain to health insurance or a bill of rights for pregnant women that focuses on specific concerns that pregnant women may have. The overall common areas included in a Patient's Bill of Rights include:

• Information. Patients have the right to accurate information that they can understand. This includes information about the provisions of their healthcare plan, healthcare settings, and healthcare professionals.
• Choice. Patients have the right to choose their doctor or other healthcare provider.
• Access. Patients can receive emergency care without authorization from an insurance company, and the emergency service requires payment before treatment.
• Participation. Patients can participate in their treatment by receiving information and making decisions about it. Patients have the right to refuse any treatment, although there are some exceptions to this rule – emergency responders may provide therapy to unconscious accident victims, for example.
• Confidentiality. Patients have the right to expect their healthcare information to be kept private by healthcare providers and insurance companies. They also have the right to request a copy of their health records and that changes be made to the document if it is incomplete or has errors.
• Respect and Fair Treatment. Patients have the right to be treated equally, with no discrimination based on their race, ethnicity, sex, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and so on. Healthcare providers and settings cannot discriminate against patients based on their payment methods.
• Complaints. Patients have a right to have their complaints about medical treatment reviewed relatively. These complaints may include healthcare providers, healthcare settings, and so on.

In addition to the rights generally outlined in a patient's Bill of Rights, these documents also often describe their responsibilities in their care. In other words, there is the expectation that patients and healthcare providers are partners to some degree during treatment. Patients cannot reasonably expect a healthcare provider to give them the best possible care if they don't disclose information about what medications they are currently taking, their health history, or the symptoms that they are having, for example.