Estate Planning - Medical Patients Rights Act

Patients have the following rights:

  • To be informed of the Doctor's name that is responsible for coordinating their care; To receive information about their condition and proposed treatment; To refuse any treatment to the extent allowed by law; Privacy and confidentiality to the extent allowed by law;
  • To receive and examine a reasonable explanation of the total bill for services rendered by a physician or health care provider including itemized charges for specific services received.
  • To receive prior timely notice of termination of individual policy of insurance company plan or health services corporation plan.
  • Each physician, health care provider, health services company and insurance company must refrain from disclosing the nature or details of services provided to patients except that information can be disclosed to:
    1. patient;
    2. party making treatment decisions if patient is incapacitated;
    3. other parties directly involved with treating the patient or processing payment for treatment;
    4. parties responsible for peer review, utilization review and quality assurance; and
    5. parties required to be notified under state law.
  • Patients that are the subject of a research program or an experimental procedure have at a minimum the right to receive an explanation of the nature and possible consequences of such research/experiments prior to the treatment and to consent to or reject it.
  • No physician may conduct a research program or experimental procedure on a patient without receiving the patient's (or guardian's, spouse's, parent's or authorized agent's) prior informed consent.
  • All health care facilities in the state must allow visitation by any persons designated by a patient 18 years or older and who is allowed visitation unless:
    1. The facility does not allow visitation for any patients;
    2. The facility or treating physician determine that visitation would endanger the physical health or safety of a patient or visitor or would interfere with facility operations.