Children's Hospital of Orange County

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Patient Rights and Responsibilities

We believe everyone deserves equitable treatment and high quality healthcare. You and your family have rights and responsibilities under State and Federal law. We want you to understand and use these rights and responsibilities.

If for any reason you do not understand or you need help, we will provide assistance, including an interpreter.

You and your parent/guardian have the right to:

  1. Considerate and respectful care, and to be made comfortable. You have the right to respect for your cultural, psychosocial, spiritual, and personal values, beliefs and preferences.
  2. Have a family member (or other representative of your choosing) and your own physician notified promptly of your admission to the hospital.
  3. Know the name of the licensed healthcare practitioner acting within the scope of his or her professional licensure who has primary responsibility for coordinating your care, and the names and professional relationships of physicians and non-physicians who will see you.
  4. Receive information about your health status, medical records, notice of privacy practices, diagnosis, prognosis, course of treatment, prospects for recovery and outcomes of care (including unanticipated outcomes) in terms you can understand. You have the right to effective communication and to participate in the development and implementation of your plan of care. You have the right to participate in ethical questions that arise in the course of your care, including issues of conflict resolution, withholding resuscitative services, and forgoing or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment.
  5. Make decisions regarding medical care, and receive as much information about any proposed treatment or procedure as you may need in order to give informed consent or to refuse a course of treatment. Except in emergencies, this information shall include a description of the procedure or treatment, the medically significant risks involved, alternate courses of treatment or nontreatment and the risks involved in each, and the name of the person who will carry out the procedure or treatment.
  6. 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. You have the right to leave the hospital, even against the advice of members of the medical staff, to the extent permitted by law.
  7. Be advised if the hospital/licensed healthcare practitioner acting within the scope of his or her professional licensure 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.
  8. Reasonable responses to any reasonable requests made for service.
  9. Appropriate assessment and management of your pain, information about pain, pain relief measures and to participate in pain management decisions. You may request or reject the use of any or all modalities to relieve pain, including opiate medication, if you suffer from severe chronic intractable pain. The doctor may refuse to prescribe the opiate medication, but if so, must inform you that there are physicians who specialize in the treatment of severe chronic pain with methods that include the use of opiates.
  10. Formulate advance directives. This includes designating a decision maker if you become incapable of understanding a proposed treatment or become unable to communicate your wishes regarding care. Hospital staff and practitioners who provide care in the hospital shall comply with these directives. All patients’ rights apply to the person who has legal responsibility to make decisions regarding medical care on your behalf.
  11. Have personal privacy respected. Case discussion, consultation, examination and treatment are confidential and should be conducted discreetly. You have the right to be told the reason for the presence of any individual. You have the right to have visitors leave prior to an examination and when treatment issues are being discussed. Privacy curtains will be used in semiprivate rooms.
  12. Confidential treatment of all communications and records pertaining to your care and stay in the hospital. You will receive a separate “Notice of Privacy Practices” that explains your privacy rights in detail and how we may use and disclose your protected health information.
  13. Receive care in a safe setting, free from mental, physical, sexual or verbal abuse and neglect, exploitation or harassment. You have the right to access protective and advocacy services including notifying government agencies of neglect or abuse.
  14. Be free from restraints and seclusion of any form used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience or retaliation by staff.
  15. Reasonable continuity of care and to know in advance the time and location of appointments as well as the identity of the persons providing the care.
  16. Be informed by the physician, or a delegate of the physician, of continuing healthcare requirements and options following discharge from the hospital. You have the right to be involved in the development and implementation of your discharge plan. Upon your request, a friend or family member may be provided this information also.
  17. Know which hospital rules and policies apply to your conduct while a patient.
  18. 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.

      However, a health facility may establish reasonable restrictions upon visitation, including restrictions upon the hours of visitation and number of visitors. The health facility must inform you (or your support person, where appropriate) of your visitation rights, including any clinical restrictions or limitations. The health facility is not permitted to restrict, limit, or otherwise deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.
  19. Have your wishes considered, if you lack decision-making capacity, for the purposes of determining who may visit. The method of that consideration will comply with federal law and be disclosed in the hospital policy on visitation. At a minimum, the hospital shall include any persons living in your household and any support person pursuant to federal law.
  20. Examine and receive an explanation of the hospital’s bill regardless of the source of payment.
  21. Exercise these rights and be free of discrimination on the basis of sex, economic status, educational background, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, medical condition, marital status, age, registered domestic partner status, genetic information, citizenship, primary language, immigration status (except as required by federal law) or the source of payment for care.
  22. File a grievance. If you want to file a grievance with this hospital, you may do so by writing or by calling the Customer CARE Line at 714-509-3200 or mail correspondence to Customer Care and Patient Advocacy Department, 1201 W. La Veta Ave., Orange, CA 92868.

    The grievance committee will review each grievance and provide you with a written response within 30 days. The written response will contain the name of a person to contact at the hospital, the steps taken to investigate the grievance, the results of the grievance process, and the date of completion of the grievance process. Concerns regarding quality of care or premature discharge will also be referred to the appropriate Utilization and Quality Control Peer Review Organization (PRO).
  23. File a complaint with The California Civil Rights Department regardless of whether you used the health facility/clinic’s grievance process at www.dfeh.ca.gov, (800) 884-1684 or (800) 700-2320 (TTY) or 2218 Kausen Drive, Suite 100, Elk Grove, CA 95758.
  24. You are advised that medical doctors are neither employed by nor agents of the healthcare facility/clinic, but rather independent contractors with medical staff privileges, licensed and regulated by the Medical Board of California. To check on a license or to file a complaint against a medical doctor, go to www.mbc.ca.gov, call (800) 633-2322, send to 2005 Evergreen Street, Suite. 1200, Sacramento, CA 95815, or email [email protected]
  25. Contact the health facility/clinic administration if there are concerns about patient care and safety that the health facility/ clinic has not addressed, or not addressed to your satisfaction. If concerns cannot be resolved through the health facility/clinic administration, you may file a complaint with the California Department of Public Health regardless of whether you use the hospital’s grievance process. The California Department of Public Health, Licensing and Certification Program, Orange County District Office’s phone number and address is: 681 S. Parker Street, Suite 200, Orange, CA 92868. Phone 714-567-2906 or Fax 714-567-2815. You may contact The Joint Commission at (800) 994-6610 or [email protected] to report concerns regarding health facilities.
  26. Be Informed of Care Costs:
    1. You have a right to understand what your care will cost. We will tell you what your care will be and how much it might cost before any care or service happens.
    2. You have the right to be involved in making and updating your care plan, so you understand it and can give your input.

You and your child have the responsibility to:

  1. Participate actively in decisions about care and treatment. Treat others with respect and dignity. Respect other’s privacy.
  2. Be considerate of other patients, families and staff and follow hospital rules about patient, family and visitor conduct.
  3. Follow the hospital’s rules and restrictions about the number of visitors allowed, when they can visit and for how long.
  4. Respect hospital property and the property of others.
  5. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s treatment or care.
  6. Know your child’s healthcare requirements following discharge from the hospital, including follow-up care.
  7. Be part of your child’s healthcare team. This means:
    • Providing accurate and complete information about your child’s health;
    • Answering all questions honestly and accurately;
    • Asking questions so that you understand what is happening and why;
    • Following the treatment your child’s doctors and nurses have planned;
    • Telling us about any changes; and
    • Knowing the doctor who is in charge of your child’s care.
  8. Provide accurate and complete information about your family’s health insurance and payments. Pay bills in a timely manner.
  9. Know your responsibilities regarding your child’s ongoing health needs.