Patient Rights and Responsibilities

At UPMC, service to our patients is our top priority. We are committed to making your stay as pleasant as possible. We have adopted the following Patient Bill of Rights to protect the interests and promote the well-being of our patients.

1. A patient has the right to respectful care given by competent personnel.
2. A patient has the right, upon request, to be given the name of his or her attending physician, the names of all other physicians directly participating in his or her care, and the names and functions of other health care personnel having direct contact with the patient.
3. A patient has the right to every consideration of privacy concerning his or her own medical care program. Case discussion, consultation, examination, and treatment are considered confidential and should be conducted discreetly.
4. A patient has the right to know what medical center rules and regulations apply to patients.
5. A patient has the right to expect emergency procedures to be implemented without unnecessary delay.
6. A patient has the right to quality care and high professional standards that continually are maintained and reviewed.
7. A patient has the right to appropriate assessment and management of pain.
8. A patient has the right to full information in layman’s terms concerning his or her diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, including information about alternative treatments and possible complications. When it is not medically advisable to give such information to the patient, the information shall be given on the patient’s behalf to the patient’s next of kin or other appropriate person.
9. Except for emergencies, a patient’s physician must obtain the necessary informed consent prior to the start of any procedure or treatment.
10. A patient has the right to refuse any drugs, treatments, or procedures offered by the medical center, to the extent permitted by law, and a physician shall inform the patient of the medical consequences of the patient’s refusal of any drugs, treatments, or procedures.
11. A patient or, in the event the patient is unable to give informed consent, a legally responsible party has the right to be advised when a physician is considering the patient as part of a medical research program or donor program. The patient or legally responsible party may at any time refuse to continue in any such program to which he or she previously has given informed consent.
12. A patient has the right to assistance in obtaining consultation with another physician at the patient’s request and own expense.
13. A patient has the right to medical and nursing services without discrimination based upon race, color, age, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, source of payment, or marital, veteran, or handicapped status.
14. A patient who does not speak English will have access to an interpreter.
15. The medical center shall provide a patient or patient designee, upon request, access to all information contained in the patient’s medical records, unless access is specifically restricted by the attending physician for medical reasons or is prohibited by law.
16. A patient has the right to expect that good management techniques will be implemented by the medical center when considering effective use of the patient’s time and to avoid the personal discomfort of the patient.
17. When medically permissible, a patient may be transferred to another facility only after the patient or his or her next of kin or other legally responsible representative has received complete information and an explanation concerning the needs for and alternatives to such a transfer. The institution to which the patient is to be transferred first must accept the patient for transfer.
18. The patient has the right to examine and receive a detailed explanation of her or her bill.
19. A patient has the right to full information and counseling on the availability of known financial resources for his or her health care.
20. A patient has the right to expect that the medical center will provide him or her upon discharge with information of the patient’s continuing medical requirements following discharge and the means for meeting them.
21. A patient has the right of access to an individual or agency who is authorized to act on the patient’s behalf to assert or protect the rights set out in this section.
22. A patient has the right to be informed of his or her rights at the earliest possible moment in the course of the patient’s hospitalization.

As a patient at UPMC, you should assume responsibility for the following:

1. The medical center expects that a patient or a member of a patient’s family will provide information about past illnesses, hospitalizations, medications, and other matters relating to the patient’s health history to help the medical center treat the patient effectively.
2. The medical center expects that a patient will cooperate with all staff members and ask questions if directions and/or procedures are not clearly understood.
3. A patient is expected to be considerate of other patients and staff member sand to assist in the control of noise, smoking, and number of visitors in the room at any time. A patient also is expected to be respectful of the property of other people and the property of the medical center.
4. In order to facilitate care and the efforts of the medical center staff, a patient is expected to help the physicians, nurses, and allied medical personnel in their efforts to give care by following their instructions and medical orders.
5. Duly authorized members of a patient’s family are expected to be available to medical center staff for review of treatment in the event the patient is unable to communicate properly with the physicians or nurses.
6. It is understood that a patient assumes the financial responsibility of paying for all services rendered, either through third-party payers (for example, the patient’s insurance company) or by being personally responsible for payment for any services that are not covered by insurance policies.
7. It is expected that a patient will not take drugs that have not been prescribed by the attending physician and administered by medical center staff and that a patient will not complicate or endanger the healing process by consuming alcoholic beverages or toxic substances during a hospital stay.