Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 48 - PUBLIC HEALTH-GENERAL
Part XI - Hospitals
Subpart 3 - General Hospitals
Chapter 7 - Patient Involvement
Section XI-701 - Patient Rights

1. The patient has the right to considerate and respectful care.

2. The patient has the right to obtain from his physician complete current information concerning his diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis in terms the patient can be reasonably expected to understand. When it is not medically advisable to give such information to the patient, the information should be made available to an appropriate person in his behalf. He has the right to know, by name, the physician responsible for coordinating his care.

3. The patient has the right to refuse treatment to extent permitted by law and to be informed of the medical consequences of his action.

4. The patient has the right to every consideration of his privacy to the extent consistent with providing adequate medical care to the patient. This shall not preclude discrete discussion of a patient's case or examination of patient by appropriate health care personnel. Those not directly involved in his care must have the permission of the patient to be present.

5. The patient has the right to expect that all communications and records pertaining to his care should be treated as confidential, except as otherwise provided by law or third party payment contract.

6. The patient has the right to expect that within its capacity a hospital must make a reasonable response to the patient's request for services customarily rendered by the hospital consistent with the patient's treatment. The hospital must provide evaluation, service, and/or referral as indicated by the urgency of the case. When medically permissible, a patient may be transferred to another facility only after he has received complete information and explanation concerning the needs for and alternatives to such a transfer. The institution to which the patient is to be transferred must first have accepted the patient for transfer.

7. The patient has the right to obtain information as to any relationship of his hospital to other health care and educational institutions insofar as his care is concerned. The patient has the right to obtain information as to the existence of any professional relationships among individuals, by name, who are treating him.

8. The patient has the right to be advised if the hospital proposes to engage in or perform human experimentation affecting his care or treatment. The patient has the right to refuse to participate in such research projects.

9. The patient has the right to expect reasonable continuity of care. He has the right to know in advance what appointment times and physicians are available and where. The patient has the right to expect that the hospital will provide a mechanism whereby he is informed by his physician or a delegate of the physician of the patient's continuing health care requirements following discharge.

10. The patient has the right to examine and receive an explanation of his bill, regardless of source of payment.

11. The patient has the right to know the hospital rules and regulations that apply to his conduct as a patient.

12. The patient has the right to treatment without discrimination as to race, color, religion, sex, national origin or source of payment.