Patient's Rights and Responsibilities

Your Rights as a Patient

RMH has a set of core values that include respect for the personal preferences and values of each patient. As a patient at RMH Healthcare, you have the following rights:

Considerate Care

Our staff will respect your dignity, treat you with courtesy and be sensitive to your needs. We will respect your personal privacy and work with you to honor your wishes, values and cultural beliefs. We will provide the same quality of care to all patients. We will respect your freedom from unnecessary restraints. We will respond to your request for service in a reasonable time frame. Information about your hospital visit will be shared only with people involved in your care and with people you give us permission to talk to.

Pain Management

We recognize that pain accompanies illness and injury and we will support effective pain management. In order to effectively manage your pain, we will assess and reassess your pain. Please tell us if your pain has not been relieved. We will provide educational opportunities for you and your family on pain management.

Informed Decision Making

It is important for you and your family to actively participate in care decisions. You have a right to know about your illness, treatment and likely outcomes. You have a right to discuss these with your doctor and a right to expect that information will be provided to you in a language you understand. You have a right to be informed of unanticipated outcomes.

You have a right to refuse treatments, tests and life supporting measures with an understanding that you may change your mind.

You have a right to know the names and roles of the people taking care of you, including those who will perform an operation or provide treatment. All our staff members wear RMH identification badges, indicating that they work for us.

If you and your family members are interested in learning more about your health, diagnosis or treatment options, you may visit the patient/family section of the Virginia Funkhouser Health Library located to the right of the main lobby. There, you may surf the medical web, check out videos and access many helpful resources. A librarian is available to help you during regular business hours.

Advance Directives

You have a right to end-of-life care. You have a right to have an advance directive, such as a living will and/or power of attorney for your health care. These documents express your choices about your future care and/or name someone to make health-related decisions for you if you cannot speak for yourself. The Virginia advance directive form also gives you an opportunity to share your wishes about organ donation. If you have a written advance directive, it is important that you share this with your doctor and caregivers. We encourage you to discuss all your wishes concerning your care with your doctor, family, clergy and attorney.

During the admission process, you will receive a booklet of information on advance directives. We will be happy to answer any questions and help you complete the advance directive paperwork.

Concerns and Complaints

RMH Healthcare encourages anyone who has concerns or complaints about patient safety or quality of care to bring them to the attention of RMH leadership. Please ask any staff member if you would like to speak to a department manager, director or nursing coordinator. You can also call:

540-689-1000 or toll free at 800-543-2201 and ask to speak with the department manager, director or nursing coordinator
Patient Representative: 540-689-1234
Quality and Patient Safety department: 540-689-1650

You also have the right to report patient safety or quality of care concerns to:

Virginia Department of Health
P.O. Box 2448
Richmond, VA 23218
Phone: 800-955-1819
www.vdh.state.va.us

Office of Quality Monitoring
The Joint Commission
One Renaissance Boulevard
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Phone: 800-994-6610
www.jointcommission.org

Bills

Each time you use the hospital's services, you are registered as a patient and will receive a bill for that particular visit. You have a right to ask questions about your bill. Each bill will indicate whom to call if you have questions, wish to discuss financial information or to arrange a payment plan. You may ask for an itemized bill at any time by calling 540-433-4321. We will need the date of the service and your name.

If we experience difficulty getting your bill processed, we may ask you to contact your insurance company to inquire about payment. Bringing your health insurance card with you each time you register as a patient will enable us to keep our records current and prevent delays in payment that may result in the need for us to call you.

Separate bills may come from a radiologist, emergency department doctor, pathologist, anesthesiologist, inpatient physician, and/or the doctor who ordered a test, admitted you or was consulted. Each doctor will bill you separately, and the number to call with questions will be listed on each bill. We try to share your insurance information with the doctors who treat you, but we encourage you to call their billing offices with any questions. Many insurance carriers will pay the hospital but may not have a contract with every doctor. Please contact your insurance company at the number listed on your insurance card if you have questions about coverage.

For patients who visit our outpatient services several times a week or a month, we do offer a multiple visit billing program. Our registration staff will set up a special number, then billing information will be sent to your insurance company once a month.

Experimental Research

You may, at any time, agree or refuse to take part in any study or experiment related to your care or treatment.

Information About Outside Services

You have a right to be informed of any business relationships the hospital has with your physician(s) and other healthcare providers.

Access to Medical Records

You and/or your legal representative may request copies of your records within state law and hospital policy. You have a right to review your records in the presence of a healthcare provider. We are also required to share how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can access information. You have a right to amend your record if you feel the information is not accurate. Please ask Health Information Management for help in doing this. Learn more English | Español

Your Responsibilities as a Patient

Good health care requires teamwork—patients and healthcare professionals working together. As we strive to provide you with the highest quality health care, we ask that you help us in the following ways:

Provide accurate information about your past health care. We may even ask you for written permission to get information from other healthcare providers or other hospitals.
Tell us about your current medications, including herbals and other over-the-counter medicines.
Please let us know if you have any questions or don't understand something. Talk with your doctor or nurse; they are more than happy to answer your questions.
Recognize that you are responsible for your valuables while you are in our facility. Please send valuables home with your family or let us lock them in our safe (if you are an inpatient). If you are in the emergency department, leave your items with a family member. Please do not leave anything unattended in a patient care area.
Observe all recommended safety measures to protect yourself, as well as our healthcare staff. We routinely conduct drills and reviews to help keep you safe, but there are many other safety steps you and your family can take. A brochure titled "Making Your Health Care Safe" is included in your patient envelope. This brochure shares ideas to prevent patient falls and medication errors, etc. Please take a few minutes to read this important information.
Consider asking one person to serve as a family spokesperson—someone who can ask us questions on behalf of your family/friends and convey information about your condition to family/friends. This protects your confidentiality and helps us by reducing the number of telephone calls we receive from people who want to know about your condition. Ask family members and friends to contact the spokesperson for information. In addition, please ask your family and friends to observe our visiting hours.
RMH is a tobacco-free campus. Tobacco products including cigarettes, are not permitted anywhere on campus.
Ask your family and friends to observe flu and cold warnings by limiting their visits and staying home they are sick. As healthcare providers, we also follow policies that require us to stay home when we are ill to prevent passing germs to you. Encourage your family to use the hand sanitizers hanging on the walls in most areas.
Provide us with feedback about our service and your expectations. You may receive a paper survey in the mail. Please be honest and share your thoughts and comments with us; let us know if we have met your expectations or if there are specific ways in which we can improve. You are encouraged to name staff and physicians who made your stay pleasant.

We hope this information about our hospital has helped answer your questions. If you have additional concerns or questions, please contact our Patient Representative at 689-1234. Please remember that your doctor and nursing staff are here to help you. We are always happy to share our programs with you, help you find your way around our facility and put you in contact with the people you need to reach.

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