Patient Rights & Education

Healthcare organization needs to protect patients’ rights at all the time. at the same time patients must be aware of the responsibilities. Patients must be educated with every aspect of their disease and treatment procedures. your organization also needs to provide patients with a complete home care and follow up plan.

What does it mean?

• Patients & their families must be informed about the disease, the possible outcomes and are involved in the decision making.
• Patients are also informed about the mechanisms to address their grievances through a documented process elucidated in this chapter.
• Patient and families have a right to information and education about their healthcare needs in a language & manner that is understood by them.
• When patient walks into your clinic he should be given full knowledge about the clinic and its decorum and the staff should be trained to do it rather than the dentist doing it.
• Informed consent should be obtained from the patient OR his family before anything even remote is carried out.
• The family should be involved with patient’s health in case of minor patients.
• Patients should be educated completely about the procedure, its costs, risks and other parameters, after patient consents to this, this is an ideal case to start with.
• Hence in this chapter we have provided you with patients’ rights & responsibilities and how to go about these policies.

• Patients should be empowered & encouraged to speak up about their treatment experiences and policies and protocols should address to the issues and concerns those patients have expressed.

• If patient understands the complete treatment process and the possible outcome of the treatment with the estimated treatment cost; they are in a better position to make an informed decision.

• Patients should be encouraged to speak up with their concerns and sufferings along with any other medical history and medications they may be having.
• This will help doctor to arrive at the correct diagnosis & treatment option for the patient.

So patients should always be encouraged to exercise their right to healthcare information.