Rights & Responsibilities

Lawrence General Hospital cares for patients without regard to their age, sex, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, disability or sexual orientation.

Rights

As a patient, you have a right:

To prompt lifesaving treatment in an emergency
To reasonable access to care, including protective services
To privacy and safety during your medical treatment
To confidentiality in all your records concerning your medical history and treatment, and access to your records
To authorize your caregivers to share your personal health information with others you appoint
To participate in decisions regarding your care and to be informed about outcomes of care
To care that is considerate and respectful of your personal values and beliefs and reflects the hospital's values and code of ethics
To participate in the resolution of questions that arise in the course of your care
to refuse to be treated by a particular staff member without jeopardizing your access to care
To receive prompt response to all reasonable requests
To have your pain appropriately assessed and managed
To designate a decision maker in case you become incapable of understanding a proposed treatment or procedure or become unable to communicate your wishes regarding care
To protection of your rights during research, investigation, and clinical trials
To request and receive an itemized explanation of your hospital bill
To request and receive information on financial assistance and free health care
To have an interpreter

Please contact our Patient Relations Office at 978-683-4000, ext. 2273 for more information on your rights as a patient, or to resolve a complaint about your care.

Other Helpful Resources

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Department of Public Health (Division of Health Quality Complaint Intake)
67 Forest Street
Marlborough, MA 01752
Website: mass.gov
Telephone: 617-753-8150
Fax: 617-753-8165

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Board of Registration in Medicine (Complaint Intake Unit):
200 Harvard Mill Square, Suite 330
Wakefield, MA 01880
Email: www.mass.gov/massmedboard
Telephone: 781-876-8200
Fax: 781-876-8381

The Joint Commission
1 Renaissance Boulevard
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Website: www.jointcommission.org
Fax: 630-792-5636
*To file a report or concern, please call 800-994-6610

Responsibilities

As a patient, you have a responsibility:

To provide, to the best of your knowledge, accurate and complete information about present complaints, past illnesses, hospitalizations, any medications and herbal supplements you are taking, and other matters relating to your health
To report any unexpected changes in your condition to your doctor
To provide a copy of your Advanced Directives, if you have them drawn up, and to notify your doctor if you change or revoke these documents
To ask for an explanation if you do not understand something about your care or what is expected of you
To follow the treatment plan recommended by the doctor primarily responsible for your care. This includes following the instructions of nurses and allied health personnel as they carry out your coordinated plan of care and enforce hospital rules and regulations
To keep appointments and when unable to do so for any reason, to notify your doctor or the hospital
To follow hospital rules and regulations about your care and conduct
To be considerate of the rights of other patients and hospital personnel; assist in the control of noise and the number of visitors
To be respectful of property belonging to other people and to the hospital
To meet, as promptly as possible, and financial obligations that may result from health care services rendered