Speaker 1: I know my health care rights. Could you make the same claim? Most likely not, and until I entered the health care system, I didn't know these rights even existed. So today on Hospital Business, we're going to go over your legal rights in the American health care system. Let's get into it. Okay, the first right we're going to go over is the right to obtain your medical records and keep them private. And this is possible through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, also referred to as HIPAA. HIPAA protects not only how our health information is handled, but it also gives you the right to see your medical records and your health care provider's office and get provided copies within 30 days. Now I know that 30 days is a really long time, but remember that this came out in 1996 and we're going to talk about a more recent act that changed this on the next slide. Special cases do apply where you may not be able to get all of your medical information. For example, if your health care provider decides something in your file might endanger you or someone else, they may not have to give you that information. And this most often applies in mental health situations. Now the second piece of information is interesting. If you find an error in your medical records, you can request that it be corrected. You can also ask them to add information to your file if it's incomplete or change something you disagree with. For example, if you and your provider disagree with the diagnosis, you can still request a change and they must change it. Even if your health care provider doesn't agree that there's an error, you have the right to have your disagreement noted in the chart. Kind of interesting, right? Now the 21st century brought about the Cures Act, which requires that providers give you access to their electronic medical records without cost and without delay. So this improves what HIPAA originally put into place in 1996. This act was signed into law in December, 2016. And we know that there were major advances in technology and the 10 years since HIPAA was put into place. And in that time, there was the development of several different online portals that you can access your medical records on from any computer or phone. I gave MyChart and Athena as examples for online portals. So since April 5th, 2021, federal law specifies that there are eight types of notes among your electronic information that cannot be blocked from you, and you must be able to access this information free of charge. These notes include consultations, discharge summaries, history and physicals, imaging results, lab results, pathology results, procedure and progress notes. There are two types of clinical notes that do not apply. Psychotherapy notes that are separate from your medical record and information that is anticipated to be used in a civil, criminal or administrative action or proceeding. Okay, so now you have access to the same test results and visit notes as the provider, but this has both positives and negatives associated. The positives are obviously that you have instant access and it's free to you and really promotes a sense of transparency in the healthcare field. Although there are negatives, sometimes you can receive devastating test results or can even misinterpret what you're reading because medical terminology essentially is like another language. So you have to be careful. Don't use Dr. Google or try to understand your chart. Please reach out to your medical provider for clarification if you need it. The next right is to emergency treatment. Hospitals have three main obligations under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, also known as EMTALA, which has been around since 1986. EMTALA requires that anyone coming to the emergency department to be stabilized and treated regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. So any individual who comes in and requests assistance in the ED must receive a medical screening examination to determine whether an emergency medical condition exists. Therefore, examination and treatment cannot be delayed to inquire about methods of payment or insurance coverage. And if you've ever been to the emergency department, you know that you are first seen by a triage nurse, and then once you get a bed, then someone will come around and register you and ask for your insurance cards. If an emergency medical condition exists, treatment must be provided until the emergency medical condition is resolved or stabilized. If the hospital does not have the capability to treat the emergency medical condition, an appropriate transfer of the patient to another hospital must be done. Lastly, hospitals with specialized capabilities are obligated to accept transfers from other hospitals who lack the capability to treat unstable emergency medical conditions. Let me give you an example for this one. A patient rolls into Hospital A with a bad gallbladder, but there's no surgeon available. So Hospital A requested that Hospital B accept the patient for transfer. However, the on-call surgeon at Hospital B refused to accept the patient, recommending instead that the patient be transferred to another facility. In this example, Hospital B declined to accept the patient, even though they had both a bed and a surgeon for the patient. This would be considered an EMTALO violation. The next right is the right to be treated with respect, also known as non-discrimination. This is enforced by the federal government. You should not be discriminated against for any reason regardless of sex, race, age, national origin, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status. Last is the right to make decisions about end-of-life care, and each state in the United States governs how patients may make and legally record the decisions about how their lives will end if they choose to do so. These are often referred to as advanced directives, end-of-life directives, or health care directives. When you think of directives, think of directions. These documents allow you to give directions about what future health care you are consenting to receive or not receive if you are not able to voice those decisions on your own. That's an important part to remember. These directions only apply if you are no longer able to give your own input. In summary, as a patient you have certain rights and it's more than okay to speak up if you feel like they have been violated. All right, so what can you do if you feel your rights have been violated? If you believe your rights have been violated, you can ask to speak with a hospital, patient advocate, or your state's department of health. Patient advocates are trained to help the health care consumer who doesn't feel comfortable speaking up for themselves. It is very important to stand up and exercise your patient rights. Hit the like button and subscribe to my channel for more hospital business.