Patient Rights & Responsibilities

This listing is intended to express the ideas of the Health System and its patients, but it does not presume to be a complete representation of all mutual rights and responsibilities.

We affirm that all of these activities must be conducted with an overriding concern for the patient and a recognition of his/her dignity as a human being.

Patient Rights

1. You have the right to reasonable access to care and services based on the individual’s need for services, in accordance with the Health System’s mission, including matters of conscience, and applicable laws and regulations, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression.
2. You have the right to receive information and explanation concerning the need for and alternatives for care prior to transfer to another facility when necessary and medically permissible.
3. You have the right to expect that a family member or authorized representative and your own physician (as identified by you or your authorized representative) will be notified promptly of your admission to the Health System’s unless you request this not be done.
4. You have the right to considerate and respectful care including consideration of your psychosocial, spiritual, and cultural needs.
5. You have the right to receive care in a safe setting, free from abuse or harassment.
6. You have the right to the appropriate assessment and management of pain.
7. You have the right to have issues related to care at the end of life addressed with sensitivity.
8. You have the right to be informed about and participate in decisions regarding your care.
9. You have the right to accept medical care or to refuse medical treatment to the extent permitted by law and to be informed of the medical consequences of such refusal.
10. You have the right to be free from restraint or seclusion that is not medically and/or legally necessary.
11. You have the right to formulate advance directives, including but not limited to individual instructions and/or appointment of a healthcare agent through execution of a Power of Attorney for Healthcare. You shall receive care regardless of whether or not you have advance directives. Your advance directives will be made a part of your medical record and they can be reviewed with you or your authorized decision-maker periodically. The facility and caregivers will follow your advance directives to the extent permissible by policy and law. You also have the right to designate a surrogate to make healthcare decisions for you when you cannot.
12. You have the right to a clear, concise explanation of your condition and any prognosis in terms and language that you can reasonably understand.
13. You and, when appropriate, your family have the right to be informed about the outcomes of care, treatment, and services that have been provided, including unanticipated outcomes.
14. You have the right to know the identity and professional status of individuals providing service to you and to know the physician or any other practitioner who is primarily responsible for your care.
15. You have the right to participate in the consideration of ethical issues that arise regarding your care. If assistance is needed regarding ethical issues, contact the Customer Relations Department at extension 3506 (or from outside of the hospital at (228) 865-3506) or the Ethics Hotline at extension 5090 (or from outside of the hospital at (228) 867-5090).
16. You have the right to be informed if Memorial engages in or performs human experimentation or any other research affecting your plan of care or treatment. Likewise, you have the right to refuse to participate in any research within the facility.
17. You have the right to be interviewed and examined in surroundings that ensure reasonable visual and auditory privacy.
18. You have the right to have your medical record read only by individuals directly involved in or supervising your treatment, monitoring the quality of your treatment, or authorized by law or regulation.
19. You have the right within the limits of the law, to expect personal privacy and confidentiality of information and records pertaining to your care.
20. You have the right to have reasonable access to information contained in your medical record within the limit of the law and Memorial policy.
21. You have the right to request and receive an itemized explanation of your total charges for the services rendered in the facility regardless of the source of payment.
22. Ordinarily, you have the right to unrestricted access to communication, visitors, mail and telephone calls unless clinically or legally contraindicated. Any restrictions are fully explained to the patient.
23. Legal guardians, custodians, parents, and other authorized representatives have the authority to exercise the above rights for unemancipated minor children.
24. The patient’s legally authorized responsible person will have the authority permitted by law to exercise the rights delineated on behalf of the patient if the patient:
    1. has been adjudicated incompetent in accordance with the law,
    2. is found by his/her primary physician to lack the ability to understand the benefits, risks and alternatives to proposed healthcare and make and communicate a decision,
    3. is a minor.
25. You have the right to be informed of your rights in writing and are entitled to information about the process for initiation, review, and resolution of complaints and grievances. We encourage you to raise questions or concerns about any aspect of your care by communicating with appropriate staff where you are receiving care. You may contact the Patient Representative by calling the Customer Relations Department at (228) 865-3506. You may also address your complaints by calling the Mississippi State Department of Licensure at 1(800) 227-7308 or The Joint Commission Complaint Line at 1(800) 994-6610. Medicare concerns may be directed to KEPRO at 1(844) 430-9504.

Patient Responsibilities

Doctors and the Memorial staff care for the sick and injured. They recognize that to be effective, the effort must be a partnership with the patient and the healthcare team working together for the common goal.

As a patient, you will be expected, within the limits of your abilities, to assume a share of the responsibility for your healthcare.

1. You have the responsibility to the best of your ability to bring with you information about past illnesses, advance directives, including individual instructions, past hospitalizations, medications, designations of a surrogate and/or primary physicians, and other matters relating to your health.
2. You have the responsibility to participate in decisions regarding your care, openly expressing any concerns or questions.
3. You have the responsibility to cooperate with all Memorial personnel caring for you and to ask questions if you do not understand any directions given to you.
4. You have the responsibility to keep appointments or to call Memorial when you cannot keep a scheduled appointment.
5. You have the responsibility for your actions if you refuse treatment or do not follow the physician’s instructions.
6. You have the responsibility to be prompt in payment of your hospital bills, to provide the information necessary for insurance processing, and to be prompt about asking questions you have concerning your bill.
7. You have the responsibility to abide by Memorial rules and regulations and to see that your visitors do likewise.
8. You have the responsibility to be considerate of other patients and to see that your visitors are considerate as well, particularly regarding noise.
9. You have the responsibility to be respectful of others, other people’s property, and that of the facility.
10. You have the responsibility to discuss pain relief options with your physician or caregiver and help them measure your pain.
11. You have the responsibility to help your doctors, nurses, and all other healthcare team members, in their efforts to return you to health by following their instructions.
12. You will be responsible for valuables kept in your room. We suggest that you send money or jewelry home with your family or deposit them in the hospital safe until you leave. Memorial cannot assume responsibility for lost property.