Patient Rights
Mills-Peninsula respects your rights
Mills-Peninsula is committed to providing high quality, cost-effective health care to the community. Every patient deserves to be treated with respect, dignity, and concern. We will do our best to serve you.
We encourage you to be an active partner in your care. When you are well informed, participate in treatment decisions, and communicate openly with your doctor and other health professionals, you help make your care as effective as possible.
Mills-Peninsula respects the personal preferences and values of each individual. Our goal is to observe your rights as a patient.
While you are a patient at Mills-Peninsula, you may exercise your rights regardless of gender, economic status, educational background, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status or the source of payment for care. Read more...
To file a complaint or grievance without fear of retaliation, retribution, harassment or recrimination contact the following:
Mills-Peninsula Health Services
Patient Relations
1783 El Camino Real
Burlingame, CA 94010
California Department of Public Health, District Office
350 90th Street, 2nd Floor
Daly City, CA 94015
800-554-0353
The Joint Commission
One Renaissance Boulevard
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
800-994-6610
www.jointcommission.org
To file a complaint or grievance regarding quality of care or a premature discharge for a Medicare Beneficiary, the patient or family may contact Lumetra, the Utilization and Quality Control, Quality Improvement Organization.
Lumetra
One Sansome Street, Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94104-4448
800-841-1602
While you are a patient at Mills-Peninsula, you have the right to the following.
Conditions of Care
Before we provide or discontinue care, you will be informed of your rights, whenever possible.
We will notify a family member or representative and your own doctor when you are admitted to the hospital.
You will be told the name of the doctor coordinating your care, and the names and professional relationships of other health care professionals who will see you.
From all of them, you can expect considerate and respectful care that safeguards your cultural, psychosocial and spiritual values.
You will receive care in a safe setting that is free from all forms of abuse and harassment.
All patients have the right to pain relief, so we will do all we can to assess and manage your pain.
Once you are discharged from the hospital, you will be told about continuing health care requirements.
Information and Privacy
You have the right to receive clear, understandable information about your illness, course of treatment and prospects for recovery. You will receive as much information about any proposed treatment or procedure as you need to give informed consent or to refuse treatment. Except in emergencies, this information includes a description of the procedure or treatment, the medical risks involved, alternate courses of treatment or non-treatment and the risks involved in each, and the name of the person who will carry out the procedure or treatment.
You may formulate an advance health care directive, which we will follow within legal limits. Decisions regarding your medical care, including the development and implementation of your care plan, will involve you as much as possible. This includes your right to refuse treatment.
You have a right to personal privacy. Expect full consideration of your privacy concerning your medical care program. Case discussion, consultation, examination and treatment are confidential and will be conducted discreetly. You have the right to be told why any individual is present.
All communication and records about your care and stay in the hospital will be kept confidential. You must give written permission before your medical records can be made available to anyone not directly related with your care.
You will be able to gain access to information contained in your medical record within a reasonable time. This still applies once you have left the hospital.
With your authorization, we will provide a friend or family member information about your continuing health care requirements after discharge.
Ethics
Restraints, while medically necessary on occasion, will not be used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience or retaliation. Restraints or seclusion are not permitted as forms of behavior management.
Expect reasonable responses to any reasonable requests you make for service. You may leave the hospital even against the advice of physicians.
To ensure reasonable continuity of care, we will give you advance notice about the times and locations of appointments, as well as the identity of those providing care.
You have the right to be told if your doctor proposes to participate in human experimentation that affects your care or treatment. You may refuse to participate in such research projects. Consult the Bioethics Committee and participate in any bioethical issues that arise in your case by asking your nurse or physician, or calling the Medical Staff Services Office at extension 5660.
Visitors
You may designate visitors of your choosing, with some exceptions. Medical necessity may require that no visitors be allowed. In addition, the facility may determine that a particular visitor would endanger the health or safety of you, a member of the staff or other visitors, or would disrupt facility operations. You may also decide if there are visitors you do not wish to allow.
Rules and Policies
You have the right to know which hospital rules and policies apply to your conduct.
You may examine and receive an explanation of your bill regardless of the source of payment.
Your rights as a patient may be applied to someone who has legal responsibility to make decisions regarding your medical care.
Concerns voiced by you or your representative will be addressed quickly and respectfully.
If you feel your concerns are not being addressed, you may file a complaint or grievance by contacting the following:
Your Responsibilities
While you are a patient at Mills-Peninsula, you also have responsibilities. Fulfilling them will enhance your overall health care experience.
Information and Communication
Make sure you provide us with all available documents relating to your health, such as advance directives, care decisions and living wills. Also provide an accurate and complete description of your present condition and past medical history.
Try to learn more about your health care needs and ask your doctor or other members of the health care team for information about your treatment. Report any changes in your condition to your doctor and indicate whether you understand a suggested course of action. Inform those who treat you whether you want to permit or decline a specific treatment.
Conduct
Please follow the hospital’s policies that affect patient care and conduct, and be sure to abide by local, state, and federal laws. Make every effort to meet your financial commitment to Mills-Peninsula.
Keep appointments and cooperate with your doctors and others caring for you. Be considerate of other persons and uphold the rights of all patients. Take responsibility for your well-being if you do not follow instructions or if you refuse treatment.
If you have any questions or concerns while you are at Mills-Peninsula, please call Patient Relations at extension 5565.
Pain Management Patient Rights
All patients have the right to pain relief, including those who are unable to describe their pain. We are committed to working with our patients to provide safe and effective pain management.
While you are a patient at Mills-Peninsula, you have the right to describe your pain and expect that your description will be believed and respected. You may help develop, implement, evaluate and revise your pain management. Your pain care will be administered by compassionate professionals who respect you as an individual.
We will take all reasonable safety measures as we provide your pain management. That management will be monitored and re-evaluated, and you have the right to review alternative pain management approaches. You may refuse your pain management plan, or ask that we revise it, without fear of discrimination.
As a patient, you also have responsibilities for pain management. Ask your doctor, nurse, or therapist what you can expect regarding pain and pain management. Discuss pain relief options with your doctor, nurse, or therapist, and work with them to develop a pain management plan.
Help your doctor, nurse, and therapist assess your pain. Ask for pain relief when you first experience pain and tell a member of your health care team if your pain is not relieved. Tell your doctor, nurse, or therapist about any worries you have about taking pain medications.
If you have any questions or concerns while you are at Mills-Peninsula, please call Patient Relations at extension 5565.