Policies

Rights of Patients

1. The patient shall be afforded considerate and respectful care.

2. Upon request, the patient shall be furnished with the name of the physician responsible for coordinating his/her care.

3. Upon request, the patient shall be furnished with the name of the physician or other person responsible for conducting any specific test or other medical procedure performed by the health care facility in connection with the patient's treatment.

4. The patient shall have the right to refuse any treatment by the health care facility to the extent permitted by law.

5. The patient’s right to privacy shall be respected to the extent consistent with providing adequate medical care
to the patient and with efficient administration by the health care facility. Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude discreet discussion of a patient’s case or examination by appropriate medical personnel.

6. The patient’s rights to privacy and confidentiality shall extend to all records pertaining to the patient’s treatment except as otherwise provided by law.

7. The health care facility shall respond in a reasonable manner to the request of a patient’s physician for medical services to the patient. The health care facility shall also respond in a reasonable manner to the patient's request for services customarily rendered by the health care facility to the extent the services do not require the approval of the patient’s physician or are not inconsistant with the patient's treatment.

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8. Before transferring a patient to another facility, the health care facility must first inform the patient of the need for and alternatives to such transfer.

9. Upon request, the patient shall be furnished with the identities of all other health care and educational institutions that the health care facility has authorized to participate in the patient’s treatment and the nature of the relationship between the institutions and the health care facility.

10. If the health care facility proposes to use the patient in any human experimentation project, it shall first thoroughly inform the patient of the proposal and offer the patient the right to refuse to participate in the project.

11.Upon request, the patient shall be allowed to examine and shall be given an explanation of the bill rendered by the health care facility irrespective of the source payment
of the bill.

12.Upon request, the patient shall be permitted to examine any pertinent health care facility rules and regulations that specifically govern the patient’s treatment.

13. The patient shall be offered treatment without discrimination as to race, color, religion, national origin, or source of payment.

14. Patients shall be provided with summarized medical bills within thirty (30) days of discharge from a health care facility. Upon request, the patient shall be furnished with an itemized copy of his/her bill. When patients are residents of state-operated institutions or facilities, the provision of this subsection shall not apply.

15. Patients have the right to appropriate assessment and management of pain.

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Responsibilities of Patients

You have the responsibility to:

• Treat all staff with consideration and respect.
  
• Ask questions of your provider regarding your condition, the care that you are receiving, and recommended treatments.
  
• Call within 24 hours to cancel any appointment. Failure to keep an appointment without notice to the provider can cause an access problem for other consumers and financial hardship to the agency.
  
• Repeated failure to keep appointments can compromise your treatment plan and ultimately result in termination of care from your provider.
  
• Respect others’ privacy.
  
• Present accurate demographic information, including name, address, phone number and third party coverage.
  
• Pay all fees on a timely basis or make arrangements with our Financial Assistant.
  
• Inform management of any difficulties that you may have experienced at Wood River. Reporting any deficiencies will assist us in improving the delivery of care to all consumers.

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No-Show Policy

• A “no-show” is defined as a missed appointment or an appointment cancelled less than 24 hours prior to the appointment.
  
• After two no-shows by a patient, a letter will be sent to the patient stating that the next no-show will result in the person being placed on "Same Day Status". The only person(s) with the ability to remove a patient from Same Day Status will be the Medical Director or Dental Director.
  
• The next no-show will result in the patient being terminated from Wood River Health Services. Patients under eighteen years of age who have two or more no-show’s will be referred to Social Services. Social Services will evaluate each case individually for high-risk referrals to DCYF or confidential* patients who may need intervention.

*Confidential patients are women below eighteen years of age who are receiving family planning without
parental knowledge.

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