• be told your rights
• be included in the planning of your care
• be told about procedures and treatments
• be given answers to your questions
• accept care as well as refuse care
• know who your healthcare providers are
• have an "Advanced Directive", such as a Living Will
• personal privacy
• receive safe and respectful care free from any abuse
• your medical records- but they are not revealed to anyone who does not need them in order to provide your care
• be free from physical restraints unless they are absolutely necessary to keep you safe. If that should become necessary, they will be used following strict guidelines.

If you have a complaint about Cary Medical Center or the care you were provided, please talk with your nurse, ask for his/her supervisor, or call our Patient Advocate at 498-1380.  Your concerns will be kept strictly private.

A PATIENT'S BILL OF RIGHTS
(Provided by the American Hospital Association) 

1. You have the right to considerate and respectful care.

2. You have the right to appropriate, up-to-date, and understandable information about your diagnoses, treatment, and prognosis. You are encouraged to ask your doctors and other healthcare providers for this information.
   
   You can ask your doctors and other healthcare providers to furnish and discuss information about specific procedures and/or treatments, the risks involved, the possible length of time to get better, and the medically reasonable other choices and their risks and benefits. If you have an emergency and you are not able to make healthcare decisions for yourself and treatment is urgent, this will not happen.
   
   You have the right to know the identity of doctors, nurses, and others involved in your care, as well as when those involved are students, residents, or other trainees. You also have the right to know the cost of your medical care now and what is may cost in the future, insofar as it is known.

3. You have the right to make decisions about the plan of care before and during the course of treatment. You can refuse a recommended treatment or plan of care to the extent permitted by law and hospital policy, and to be told the medical consequences of your decision. In case of such refusal, you can have other appropriate care and services that the hospital should notify you of any policy that might affect your choice within the hospital or other health care facility to which you will be transferred.

4. You have the right to have an advanced directive (such as a living will, health care proxy, or durable power of attorney for health care) concerning treatment. You may appoint someone else to make decisions for you and expect that the hospital will carry out that directive to the extent permitted by law and hospital policy.
   
   The hospital must advise you of your rights under state law and hospital policy to make informed medical choices. They must ask if you have an advanced directive, and include that information in your patient records. You have the right to timely information about the hospital policy that may limit its ability to implement fully a legally valid advanced directive.

5. You have the right to every consideration of privacy. Case discussions, consultation, examination, and treatment should be conducted so as to protect your privacy.

6. You have the right to expect that your care will be treated as confidential by the hospital, except in cases such as suspected abuse and public health hazards, when reporting is permitted or required by law. You have the right to expect that the hospital will make clear the confidentiality of this information when it is released to any other parties entitled to review information in these records.
   
   
7. You have the right to look at your records pertaining to your medical care and to have the information explained or interpreted as necessary, except when restricted by law.

8. You have the right to expect that, within its capacity and policies, the hospital will make a reasonable response to a request for appropriate and medically indicated care services. The hospital must provide evaluation, service, and/or referral as indicated by the urgency of the case. When medically appropriate and legally permissible, or when you request, you may be transferred to another facility. The health care facility to which you are to be transferred must first have accepted you as a patient. You must also have the benefit of complete information and explanation concerning the need for, risks, benefits, and alternatives to such a transfer.

9. You have the right to ask and be informed of business relationships among the hospital, educational institutions, other health care providers, or payers that may influence your treatment and care.

10. You have the right to agree to or refuse to participate in proposed research studies of human experimentation affecting care and treatment or requiring direct patient involvement, and to have those studies fully explained to you before consent. If you refuse to participate in research or experimentation you are entitled to the most effective care that the hospital can otherwise provide.

11. You have the right to expect reasonable continuity of care, when appropriate, and to be informed by doctors and other caregivers of available and realistic patient care options when hospital care is no longer appropriate.
    
    
12. You have the right to be informed of hospital policies and practices that relate to patient care, treatment, and responsibilities. You have the right to be informed of available resources for resolving disputes, grievances, and conflicts such as ethics committees, patient representatives, or other mechanisms available in the institution, You have the right to be informed of the hospital's charges for services and available payment methods.

* These rights can be exercised on the patient's behalf by a designated surrogate or proxy decision maker if the patient lacks decision-making capacity, is legally incompetent, or is a minor. 

PATIENT RESPONSIBILITIES 

1. You are responsible for being considerate of other patients by:

• reminding visitors to maintain a quiet atmosphere
• using television, telephone, radio, and lights in a manner that is not disturbing to others
• respecting the property of others
• observing the hospital's no theft policy

2. You are responsible for being considerate to all hospital staff that comes in contact with you.

3. You are responsible for supplying accurate and complete information about your health. This includes information about past illnesses, hospitalization and other medications (current use of drugs, illegal or otherwise), allergies, and other matters relating to your health

4. You are responsible for notifying your doctor or nurse about any unsuspected change in your health problems

5. You are responsible for following the instructions of your doctors and other healthcare providers. You are expected to let us know immediately if you do not understand or cannot follow the instructions for the treatment plan.

6. You are responsible for your actions if you refuse treatment or do not follow the instructions of the doctor or other healthcare providers.

7. You are responsible for payment of your healthcare as soon as possible. Be sure the hospital admitting office has your current insurance or billing information. Call each of your insurance companies and let them know you are going to the hospital.

8. You are responsible for all valuables left in your room, including jewelry and money. If desired, you may place valuable items in the hospital safe.

9. The parent or legal guardian, in their responsibility for the newborn infant, child, or adolescent patient, will have the same responsibilities as mentioned in the above statements.

NOTE: A Patient's Bill of Rights and Patient Responsibilities sections have been modified for ease of reading from the original of the American Hospital Association.