Understanding Your Legal Rights as a Hospital Patient in Washington DC

Being a patient in a Washington DC hospital can be a frightening and overwhelming experience. Even if you’re used to working with medical professionals, there’s an automatic power imbalance that can make it difficult for patients to stand up for themselves and assert their rights. This can often lead to miscommunication, misunderstandings, and issues that lead to a lower quality of medical care.

As a patient, you must know your rights and what you can do if they are not respected. Our team of medical malpractice attorneys can help you stand up for your rights and hold negligent healthcare providers accountable. Call Nace Law Group now to connect with an attorney.

Your basic rights as a patient

Patients in any healthcare setting have certain rights that form the cornerstone of their medical care. The first is the right to respectful and considerate care that preserves your dignity. Patients should have their personal values and beliefs respected when they are in the care of medical professionals. For example, we see this in cases where a patient’s religious values clash directly with a recommended standard of care. Even in these scenarios, patients have the right to care that aligns with their values.

You also have a right to privacy. Your medical data should only be shared with those who need access to it to treat you.

As a patient, you are also entitled to a safe environment. While the complete eradication of bacteria and illnesses is impossible, hospitals must take all reasonable steps to keep care settings clean and prevent the spread of contagions from patient to patient.

Informed consent

An essential part of patient care is informed consent. For a patient to provide informed consent, they must not only agree to a plan of care but know what they are agreeing to. Giving patients the information they need to fully consent takes time, which is why this right is often violated by care providers who have limited time. However, a tight schedule does not override a patient’s right to informed consent.

For example, if you are getting surgery in a hospital, your doctor should explain why they are recommending the surgery, what will happen throughout the surgery, and the risks you face if you have surgery and if you choose not to have surgery. When you understand the risks of each possible choice, you are able to make an informed decision that’s right for you.

Participation in care

Patients have the right to be active participants in their care. While care is generally guided by the physician, patients should not feel like they cannot ask questions or object to a doctor’s recommendations. This involvement can be as small as determining the timing and scheduling of treatments to completely refusing certain types of treatments and requesting another form of treatment that aligns with their beliefs and values. As their care needs change throughout their time in the hospital, they also have the right to modify their care as needed.

Medical records access

Hospital patients in Washington DC have the right to request and obtain access to their medical records, typically within 30 days, under federal and local law. The good news is that the vast majority of facilities make it very easy to access your records now, with many having their own apps or online portals from which you can access visit summaries, doctors’ recommendations, and forms to request full medical records. Patients can use their medical records to request a second opinion, see a specialist, or completely transfer their care elsewhere.

This right is important because it also gives patients the chance to catch mistakes or attempts to cover up malpractice. Consider, for example, a mother whose baby suffered a birth injury because of a doctor’s failure to recommend a C-section. The mother was not offered a C-section until long past the time when any reasonable OB/GYN would have recommended one, and at that point, her baby had already suffered oxygen deprivation long enough to cause severe cerebral palsy. In reviewing her medical records, she sees that the doctor claimed to have recommended a C-section several times in the hours leading up to her emergency C-section, with the doctor charting that she refused every single time. She could bring these records to a medical malpractice attorney to seek justice for her baby.

Your options if your rights have been ignored or violated

Having your rights violated when you are receiving medical care can be traumatic. Patients often already feel vulnerable and exposed when seeking medical treatment, and having their rights violated can be dehumanizing.

Your first step may be to reach out to the hospital’s patient advocate or ombudsman. They are there to protect a patient’s rights and serve as an independent, impartial party who bridges the gap between the facility and the patient. They investigate a patient’s concerns, attempt to mediate disputes, and change policies and procedures in the wake of a complaint.

You may also be able to seek justice by contacting the licensing board for the healthcare professional who overstepped their bounds. In Washington DC, that’s often the Board of Medicine or the Board of Nursing. Licensing boards investigate complaints and, if necessary, take action against professionals who fall short of the standards they must abide by.

Finally, you may reach out to a medical malpractice attorney if you suffered concrete losses as a result of your mistreatment. For example, if your poor treatment in the hospital led to delayed care, unnecessary pain and suffering, or financial losses, you may have a claim against the provider and facility responsible.

Turn to the team at Nace Law Group today

If you’ve been mistreated in a hospital and you don’t know what your next step should be, let’s sit down and talk. Our commitment to medical malpractice cases has helped many patients just like you get the closure and justice they deserve. Call us or get in touch online now.