Patient Rights and Responsibilities
Patient Rights
To protect the basic rights of human beings, Summa Health System has adopted the following guidelines to ensure the private rights of each patient. If you would like a copy of your patient rights to take with you when you leave the hospital, please ask your nurse.
Access to Care:You shall be accorded impartial access to treatment or accommodations that are available or medically indicated, regardless of race, creed, sex, national origin, religion or source of payment for care. You, your family or your designee shall also be included in ethical discussions and decisions that may arise during the course of your care. To avoid compromising Summa's quality of care, clinical decisions (including tests, treatment and other interventions) are based upon identified patient health care needs regardless of how the hospital compensates its employees or clinical staff. This philosophy is supported by policies and procedures available to patients, clinical staff, licensed independent practitioners and hospital personnel upon request.
Respect and Dignity: You have the right to considerate, respectful care and informational privacy, as manifested by the right to:
- refuse to talk with or see anyone not officially connected with the hospital, including visitors or persons officially connected with the hospital but who are not directly involved in your care
- wear appropriate personal clothing and religious or other symbolic items, as long as they do not interfere with diagnostic procedures or treatment
- be interviewed and examined in surroundings designed to assure reasonable audio/visual privacy. This includes the right to have a person of one's own sex present during a physical examination, treatment or procedure performed by a health professional of the opposite sex
- expect that discussion or consultation involving your care will be conducted discreetly and individuals not directly involved with your care will not be present without permission
- have your medical record read only by individuals directly involved in your treatment or the monitoring of its quality and by other individuals only with your written authorization, or unless required by state or federal law; expect all communications and other records pertaining to your care, including the source of payment for treatment, to be treated as confidential
- request a transfer to another room if the patient in your present room or the patient's visitors unreasonably disturbing you
- be placed in protective privacy when considered necessary for your personal safety
Personal Safety: You have the right to expect reasonable safety insofar as the hospital practices and environment are concerned.
Identity: You have the right to know the identity and professional status of individuals providing service to you and to know which physician or other practitioner is primarily responsible for your care. This includes your right to know of the existence of any professional relationship among individuals who are treating you, as well as the relationship of the hospital to any other health care or educational institution involved in your care. Your participation in clinical training programs or in gathering of data for research purposes should be voluntary.
Information: You have the right to obtain from the practitioner responsible for coordinating your care, complete and current information concerning your diagnosis (to the degree known), treatment and any known prognosis. This information should be communicated in terms that you can reasonably be expected to understand. When it is not medically advisable to give such information to you, the information should be made available to a legally authorized individual.
Communication: You have the right to access people outside the hospital by means of visitors and by verbal and written communication. If you do not speak or understand the predominant language of the community, you should have access to an interpreter.
Consent: You have the right to be reasonably informed to participate in decisions made involving your health care. To the degree possible, this should be based on a clear, concise explanation of your condition and of all proposed technical procedures, including the possibilities of any risk of mortality, serious side effects, problems related to recuperation and probability of success. You should not be subjected to any procedure without voluntary, competent and understanding consent or that of your legally authorized representative. Where medically significant alternatives for care or treatment exist, you shall be so informed.
You have the right to know who is responsible for authorizing and performing procedures or treatment.
You shall be informed if the hospital proposes to engage in or perform human experimentation or other research and educational projects affecting your care or treatment, and you have the right to refuse to participate in any such activity.
Consultation: You, at your own request and expense, have the right to consult with a specialist.
Refusal of Treatment: If you are competent adult, you may refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law. When refusal of treatment by you, the patient, or your legally authorized representative prevents the provision of appropriate care in accordance with ethical and professional standards, the relationship with the patient may be terminated upon reasonable notice.
Transfer and Continuity of Care: You may not be transferred to another facility unless you have received a complete explanation of the need for the transfer and the alternatives to such a transfer and unless the transfer is acceptable to the other facility. You have the right to be informed by the responsible practitioner or his/her delegate of any continuing health care requirements following the discharge from the hospital. You have the right to request a transfer to another facility if you are not satisfied for any reason.
Pain Management: As a patient at Summa, you can expect to receive information about pain and pain relief measures; to be cared for by professionals who respond quickly to reports of pain; that your reports of pain will be believed; and that you will have a concerned staff that is committed to pain prevention and management.
Hospital Charges: With the exception of Medicaid and General Assistance, you have the right to request and receive an itemized and detailed explanation of your total bill for services rendered in the hospital. You have the right to timely notice prior to the termination of your eligibility for reimbursement by any third-party payer for the cost of your care.
Hospital Rules and Regulations: You should be informed of the hospital rules and regulations applicable to your conduct as a patient. You are entitled to information about the hospital's mechanism for the initiation, review and resolution of patient complaints.
Complaints/Compliments: You have the right to voice your concerns without compromising your access to care. You can make a complaint or compliment directly to the hospital by calling the patient liaison at (330) 375-3925 or you may file a complaint with any state or federal regulatory agency or with an accredited body. Complaints may be filed with the Ohio Department of Health's Complaint Unit at the following address:
The Ohio Department of Health
Complaint Unit
246 N. High Street
Columbus, OH 43266
(800)342-0553
Ethics Committee: An ethics committee has been established to assist patients, families, medical and other hospital staff in addressing or resolving ethical issues and/or concerns regarding patient care. The committee is dedicated to protecting patient rights and interests. For more information about the ethics committee, contact the patient liaison at (330) 375-3925 or the administrator on-call at (330) 375-3000 or (330) 375-3131.
Patient Responsibilities
In order to ensure that you receive the best care possible while you are a patient at Summa Health System, we need your help. You are an integral member of the Summa health care team, and by assuming the following responsibilities, you can contribute to your care in a positive way.
Providing Information: You have the responsibility to provide, to the best of your knowledge, accurate and complete information about your present complaints, past illnesses, hospitalizations, medications and other matters relating to your health and to report any changes in your condition to the responsible practitioner. You are responsible for making it known whether you clearly comprehend a recommended course of treatment and what is expected of you.
Following instructions: You are responsible for following the treatment plan recommended by the physician primarily responsbile for your care.
Patient Safety: You and your family are responsible for reporting any risks to your safety during your stay in our hospital. You are invited to share your suggestions about how Summa Health System can improve patient safety in our hospitals.
Medical Risks: If you believe an error is being made in your medical care, it is your responsibility to inform your nurse and/or your physician. You are responsible for reporting your symptoms during your stay at Summa Healht System and for assisting our health care staff in preventing medical errors.
Refusing Treatment: You are responsible for your actions if you refuse treatment or do not follow the physician's instructions.
Pain Management: As a patient at Summa, we expect that you ask your doctors or nurses what to expect reharding your pain and pain management; discuss pain relief options with your doctors and nurses; work with your doctors and nurses to assess your pain; tell you doctor or nurse if your pain is not relieved; and discuss concerns about pain relief with your doctors and nurses.
Hospital Charges: You are responsible for ensuring the financial obligations for your treatment are fulfilled as soon as possible.
Rules and Regulations: You are responsible for following hospital rules and regulations regarding patient care and conduct.
Respect and Consideration: You are responsible for being considerate of the rights of other patients and the hospital personnel.
Living Will and Healthcare Power of Attorney
Upon your admission to the hospital, you should have received a brochure about advance directives, which recognize your right to accept or refuse medical and surgical treatment. If you would like to receive copies of Ohio's Living Will and Healthcare Power of Attorney Guidelines, please ask your nurse or click here to download and print.
Open Admissions Policy
Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital's policy and practice is to admit and treat all persons without regard to race, color, sex, age, disabilities, national origin, creed, sexual orientation, ability to pay or source of payment.
Program Accessibility (Section 504)
This facility and all of its programs and activities are accessible to and useable by disabled persons, including persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or blind, or who have other sensory impairments.
Section 504 Notice of Program Accessibility
The regulation implementing Section 504 requires that an agency/facility "…adopt and implement procedures to ensure that interested persons, including persons with impaired vision or hearing, can obtain information as to the existence and location of services, activities, and facilities that are accessible to and usable by disabled persons." (45 C.F.R. §84.22(f))
This facility and all of its programs and activities are accessible to and useable by disabled persons, including persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or blind, or who have other sensory impairments.
Access features include:
- Convenient off-street parking designated specifically for disabled persons.
- Curb cuts and ramps between parking areas and buildings.
- Level access into first floor level with elevator access to all other floors.
- Fully accessible offices, meeting rooms, bathrooms, public waiting areas, cafeteria, patient treatment areas, including examining rooms and patient wards.
- A full range of assistive and communication aids provided to persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or blind, or with other sensory impairments. There is no additional charge for such aids.
- Some of these aids include: Qualified sign language interpreters for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- A twenty-four hour (24) telecommunication device (TTY/TDD) which can connect the caller to all extensions within the facility and/or portable (TTY/TDD) units, for use by persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired.
- Readers and taped material for the blind and large print materials for the visually impaired. Braille signage in elevators.
- Cards, Alphabet boards and other communication boards.
- Assistive devices for persons with impaired manual skills.
If you require any of the aids listed above, please let the receptionist or your nurse know.