How healthcare professionals can ensure that patient’s rights are upheld and protected
Patients’ rights refer to those basic rules that guide the medical caregiver’s conduct towards the patients, including the institution and those who support the caregivers. A patient is anyone who has placed their trust in the care of a health professional. Health professionals, on the other hand, refer to health personnel. During the patient’s stay in the hospital, some rights accrue to them, including high-quality hospital care, involvement in one’s care, protection of privacy, a clean and safe environment, and help with the billing claims when leaving the hospital (American Hospital Association, 2003). These rights promote the efficiency of operation between the health care professionals and the patients, the famous doctor-patient relationship. The word doctor can be replaced by any health caregiver’s title name, like a nurse (Davis C.P & Sheil W.C, 2020). These rights place an obligation on health professionals to ensure that they a promoted and upheld. The obligation restored upon the caregivers by these rights requires them to do or not do some actions for their promotion and upholding.
To involve the patients in their care, the health care professionals need to have open and honest communication with the patients. Communication is an essential part of the relationship between a patient and a caregiver. The AMA codes of Medical Ethics provide that physicians should deal honestly with their clients (Davis C.P & Sheil W.C, 2020). It is the patient’s right to be informed of their medical status to help them develop informed decisions when making choices on the medical attention they prefer.
Confidentiality is another aspect by which healthcare professionals can work to uphold patients’ rights. Medical ethics and laws require the relationship between a physician and a patient to be confidential. Unless the patient has gotten into an agreement expressly allowing the physician to disclose their medical records or if such a requirement is made under a law, the information concerning a patient’s medical status should remain confidential and the caregiver. Whenever the release of the information is required, it should be given out as a signed official document, and the physician should never use the information in an informal context (Davis C.P & Sheil W.C, 2020).
The right to health is a fundamental right, and patients have the right to receive care. Healthcare professionals must provide this right without undue regard to healthcare inequalities. This obligation requires health professionals to provide medical care even at the point of emergency. The healthcare system consists of patchwork programs for healthcare and insurance programs to ensure that the essential healthcare provision requirement is met. Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) is one such law that promotes healthcare provision. The regulation prevents healthcare professionals from refusing to provide healthcare attention for lack of money or health insurance (Davis C.P & Sheil W.C, 2020). The requirement also enables the caregivers to meet the obligation restored upon them by the patient’s right to obtain health with billing claims.
References
American Hospital Association. (2003). The patient care partnership: Understanding expectations, rights, and responsibilities. Retrieved from the American Hospital Association website: http://www.aha.org/aha/issues/Communicating-With-Patients/pt- care-partnership.html.
Davis C.P & Sheil W.C (2020, June 24th) Patient Rights. https://www.emedicinehealth.com/patient_rights/article_em.htm
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Question
Visit http://www.aha.org/advocacy-issues/communicatingpts/pt-care-partnership.shtml and review the American Hospital Association’s Patients’ Bill of Rights. Discuss how healthcare professionals can ensure that patients’ rights are upheld and protected.
Instructions:
Post your discussion to the Moodle Discussion Forum. Word limit: 500 words. Please make sure to provide citations and references (in APA, 7th ed. format) for your work.