Patient Rights & Responsibilities

Within reason and within the limits of the law, as a patient of Livingston HealthCare, you have rights.

Appropriate Access

You have the right to…

  • Impartial access to care. No one is denied access to treatment because of sex, disability, national origin, age, color, race, religion, or source of payment.
  • Emergent medical screening and stabilization if you need it.
  • Receive visitors, telephone calls, mail, and other forms of communication, if these do not have an effect on your treatment.
  • Assistance such as interpreter services if you do not understand English, or other assistance if you are hearing or sight impaired.
  • Information at the time of admission about your rights and responsibilities as a patient.
  • Have a family member or representative of your choice, and your physician notified upon your admission if you are hospitalized.

Considerate and Respectful Care

You have the right to…

  • Consideration of your cultural, spiritual, and individual needs.
  • A safe and secure hospital or outpatient environment.
  • Care that is free from abuse, neglect, or harassment.
  • Be free from restraints unless medically necessary.
  • Protective services (e.g., guardianship, advocacy services, or child/adult protective services if needed).
  • Effective communication, including having your questions answered.

Privacy and Confidentiality

You have the right to…

  • Personal privacy, to the extent possible, during the course of your treatment.
  • Confidentiality of all information and records regarding your care.

Visitation

You have the right to…

  • Be informed of any clinical restriction or reasonable restriction on your visitation rights prior to any patient care. If you are a patient in our Intensive Care Unit, visitors will be restricted during the hours of 7 AM – 9 AM and 7 PM – 9 PM and are limited to no more than two at a time.
  • Receive visitors whom you designate without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability, including but not limited to, a spouse, a domestic partner, another family member, or a friend.
  • Withdraw or deny such consent at any time.

Know Your Caregivers

You have the right to…

  • Know the identity, professional status, and experience of your caregivers.
  • Know about any professional relationship that might suggest a conflict of interest.

Participate in Decisions about Your Care

You have the right to…

  • Have your doctor explain your illness, health status, and treatment options in a way you can understand.
  • Participate in decisions about your care or treatment.
  • Have pain assessed and managed effectively.
  • Include or exclude family and friends in decision making. If you are not able to make healthcare decisions, then your guardian, legally authorized person, or next of kin will be involved in the decision making.
  • Receive information about and prepare advance directives, and to have your directives followed.
  • Accept or refuse treatment and be told about what that choice may mean. You may ask for a second opinion.
  • Talk with someone about difficult choices. The hospital Ethics Committee is available to help you with your decisions.
  • Choose to accept or refuse: 1) care from a student, or 2) participation in research activities.
  • See your medical record, according to policy, and have a copy after it is completed.
  • Be told if you need to be transferred to another facility. If you choose to be transferred to another facility, the facility must first accept you as a patient.

Help Address Concerns

You have the right to…

  • Assistance from a patient representative if you have any problems or concerns, including information about the grievance procedure or Code of Conduct.

Understand Charges

You have the right to…

  • An estimate of charges before the care is received, upon request, (if non-emergent).
  • An explanation of your bill by a representative from Patient Financial Services.

As a patient, you also have the responsibility to…

  • Help us help you by providing accurate health information.
  • Ask questions about treatment and procedures that you do not understand.
  • Provide advance notice when possible of the need for interpreter services, including language, hearing, or sight impairment.
  • Follow your recommended treatment plan, and assume responsibility for your actions should you refuse treatment.
  • Be considerate of others.
  • Be responsible for your own personal belongings, unless you request that the hospital secure them.
  • Pay bills on time.
  • Provide current billing and insurance information.
  • Inform us of the names of the visitors you consent to or do not consent to.

Patient Grievance Process

If a problem arises during the course of your hospital stay or care, you may submit any complaint to the either verbially or in writing to a department manager or Livingston HealthCare's Compliance and Risk Management Deaprtment. Call our 24-hour compliance hotline at 406.823.6495. Your complaint about care or service may be submitted annonymously or with an identifier.

Should you find that any concern or complaint goes unresolved, you may file a grievance with either: Dept. of Public Health and Human Services, Quality Assurance Division, 2401 Colonial Drive 2nd Floor, PO Box 202953, Helena, MT 59602-2953 (406.444.2099) or Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Foundation, 3404 Cooney Drive, Helena, MT 59602 (800.497.8232).

To print a copy of this notice, click here.
To print a copy of our Standards of Conducts, click here.