Page 32 Healthy Cells Magazine Peoria May 2014

Know your rights as a patient and exercise them.

Ask questions if you feel you need further clarification or explana-
tion about information given to you by your provider. Dont settle
for simple responses if you feel the need for greater detail or
more information.
Prepare a list of questions prior to your appointment, write them
down, and take the list to the appointment with you.
Take detailed notes while the provider is giving information so
that you can review and research additional information after
your appointment.
Contact your provider if you come up with questions after you
leave your appointment.
Do not be afraid to speak up and question any information that
you feel may not be accurate.
Advocating for yourself and your family is one of the best ways
to protect yourself and ensure that you are able to receive the
highest quality of care across the continuum of health care. By
doing so, it could save the expense of repeat or unnecessary test-
ing, time of gaps in communication, or even your life from incorrect
communication.
For information about how patient advocacy, call Leah Greb-
ner, PhD, RHIA, CCS, FAHIMA, director of the Health Information
Technology department at 309-692-4092. Looking to change your
career? Visit www.midstate.edu or call 309-692-4092. Midstate
College is located at 411 West Northmoor Road, Peoria, IL, 61614.
Photo credit: michaeljung/Thinkstock
patient advocacy
Know Your Rights for
Self and Family Members
By Leah A. Grebner, PhD, RHIA, CCS, FAHIMA
T
oday's health care delivery system requires patients to be
actively involved and well-informed when communicating
with health care providers. Unfortunately, this doesn't work
well for all patients and situations. Patients often plan ahead with
advance directives for health care decision-making, but it is also
a great idea to plan ahead to have a companion lined up to go
along to appointments, or even the hospital, if you find yourself in
a condition in which you do not feel 100 percent.
When in the hospital, patients have many distractions and are
often unable to fully focus on things due to health conditions or
pain. For this reason, it may be helpful to have a family member or
a close, trusted friend present during important communications
with health care providers. Even patients who have a higher level
of knowledge about health care may not be able to thoroughly
process information and instructions from health care providers.
Health care providers often make the assumption that patients
who are health care professionals don't need to have information
and instructions communicated at a lower level, but perhaps the
health care professional who is a patient is not as well-versed in
the specialty for which they are being treated, or they may be
overwhelmed upon receiving a critical diagnosis.
Occasionally, a patient may not have any family in the area or
may not have any friends with whom they are comfortable sharing
their personal health information. A recent trend followed by some
patients in this type of situation is the use of a medical note taker.
These individuals generally are independent consultants, or even
serve as volunteers to provide the service. The medical note taker
attends physician office visits and may even be used in the hospital
setting to be present when the physicians make daily rounds.
Be alert to health care provider communications that are apart
from the discussions directly with you or your loved one. It is com-
mon practice now for nursing staff to do a shift change report in
the patient rooms, rather than in a group meeting in a conference
room. If you are in the room when this happens, listen carefully,
as you may pick up information not previously shared, or you may
even be able to identify incorrect information that is communi-
cated. If you do hear something incorrect, speak up. No matter
how insignificant something may seem, there is always a possibility
that the incorrect information could potentially impact treatment of
one of the present conditions.
In the long-term care setting, patients and family members
should be aware of the state long-term care ombudsman program.
The ombudsman program has been in existence since 1972 for the
purpose of advocating for the patients rights in the long-term care
setting, responding to complaints related to long-term care, and
addressing quality issues. Some of the issues that the ombudsman
address include elder abuse, elder justice, guardianship, infection
prevention, licensing and certification, misuse of psychotropic medi-
cations, staffing shortage, and threat of early discharge or transfer.
No matter what type of health care setting in which you or your
loved one is receiving health care services, it is important that you: