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Health › Accessing Health Care

Patients' Rights and Responsibilities

Understanding your rights and responsibilities can help you to be an informed participant in your own health care.

Patients have the right to:

  • access hospital and physician services, regardless of ability to pay
  • receive safe and proper care
  • give or refuse consent for any procedure, and for any reason
  • have health problems and treatment options explained in an understandable way
  • not be discriminated against based on a protected ground such as race or sexual orientation
  • privacy regarding health records
  • access to their health records
  • create a Health Care Directive and have it followed when they cannot give consent to health treatment

It is important to remember that some of these rights are subject to exceptions. These are discussed in the sections that follow.

Patients have the responsibility to:

  • share information with health care providers
  • treat other patients with respect and dignity
  • protect their own privacy, as well as the privacy of other patients
  • make health care decisions
  • designate someone to consent to treatment on their behalf, if necessary
  • make sure they understand procedures or treatments and ask questions when in doubt

Taking on these responsibilities allows you to have control over your medical treatment and can help ensure you receive the right medical treatment.

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