Patient's rights in California
You have the right to:
Considerate and respectful care, and to be made comfortable.
Have a family member and your own doctor notified promptly of your admission to the hospital.
Know the name of the licensed health care practitioner who has primary responsibility for coordinating your care, and the names and professional relationships of doctors and nondoctors who will see you.
Receive information about your health status, diagnosis, prognosis, course of treatment, prospects for recovery and outcomes of care in terms you can understand.
Make decisions regarding medical care and receive information about any proposed treatment or procedure you need in order to give informed consent or to refuse a course of treatment.
Request or refuse treatment, to the extent permitted by law. However, you do not have the right to demand inappropriate or medically unnecessary treatment or services.
Be advised if your licensed health care practitioner proposes to engage in or perform human experimentation affecting your care or treatment, you have the right to refuse to participate in such research projects.
Reasonable responses to any reasonable requests made for service.
Appropriate assessment and management of your pain, information about pain, pain relief measures and to participate in pain management decisions.
Formulate advanced directives.
Have personal privacy respected. Case discussion, consultation, examination, and treatment are confidential and should be conducted discreetly.
Confidential treatment of all communications and records pertaining to your care and stay in the hospital.
Receive care in a safe setting, free from mental, physical, sexual, or verbal abuse and neglect, exploitation or harassment.
Be free from restraints and seclusion of any form used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience or retaliation by staff.
Reasonable continuity of care and to know in advance the time and location of appointments as well as the identity of the person providing the care.
Be informed by the doctor of continuing health care requirements and options following discharge from the hospital.
Know which hospital rules and policies apply to your conduct while a patient.
Designate a support person as well as visitors of your choosing, if you have decision-making capacity, whether or not the visitor is related by blood, marriage, or registered domestic partner status, unless:
No visitors are allowed.
The facility reasonably determines that the presence of a particular visitor would endanger the health or safety of a patient, a member of the health facility staff, or other visitor to the health facility, or would significantly disrupt the operations of the facility.
You have told the health facility staff that you no longer want a particular person to visit.
Have your wishes considered, if you lack decision-making capacity, for the purposes of determining who may visit.
Examine and receive an explanation of the hospital’s bill regardless of the source of payment.
Exercise these rights without regard to sex, economic status, educational background, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, medical condition, marital status, age, registered domestic partner status, genetic information, citizenship, primary language, immigration status or source of payment for care.
File a complaint/grievance. If you want to file a complaint/grievance with this hospital, you may do so in writing or by calling: Kaiser Permanente - Member Case Resolution Center P.O. Box 939001 San Diego, CA 92193-90011 Member Service Contact Centers: 1-800-464-4000
File a complaint with the California Department of Public Health regardless of whether you use the hospital’s grievance process. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Health Facilities Inspection Division 3400 Aerojet Avenue #323 El Monte, CA 91731 626-569-3724