San DiegoPacific Oncology and Hematology Associates

Patient Bill of Rights

MY RIGHTS AS A PATIENT:

• I have the right to be told the truth about all known options for treatment of my illness and to have the goals of that treatment explained to me.

• I have the right to talk to my doctor, my family, and friends about my illness.

• I have the right to privacy in refusing to talk with others about it if that is my choice.

• I have the right to be treated as a whole person with a range of biological, social, economic, emotional, informational, vocational, and spiritual needs—not only as a patient while I am being treated for my diagnosis. The fact that I am not well does not give others the right to make decisions for me.

• I have the right to think about other things besides my illness. I do not have to allow cancer to control every detail of my life.

• I have the right to ask others for help in the things I cannot do for myself.

• I always have the right to hope—to hope for my illness to be cured, to hope for a longer life, to hope for a good quality of life, and to hope for compassionate care—throughout the course of my illness.

• I always have the right to express my anger with people I love, and have the right to express the full range of emotions that dealing with an illness may provoke. My anger and expressions of pain and fear do not mean an absence of love for those who care for me.

• I have the right to cope with my illness in my own way, and my family also has the right to cope with it their way. Our ways may be different, but that is OK.

• I have the right to be as free of pain as is medically possible if that is my choice.

• I have the right to decline treatment and not choose what I believe to be futile interventions.

• I have the right to participate in all decisions about my care.

• I have the right to draw on my spirituality and beliefs to cope with my illness.

• I have the right to explore nontraditional treatments with the involvement of my physician.

• I have the right to seek out a second opinion with the help and support of my medical team.

• I have the right to be informed about the purpose and role of advanced directives, such as a living will or health care proxy. I have the right of referral to an appropriate agency who can provide such services to me.

• I have the right to know the identity and professional status of individuals providing care to me.

• I expect that my patient records shall be kept confidential, and that I must give permission should I wish to release information to other parties.

• I have the right to present questions and concerns regarding the quality of care that I receive.