Resources

• Annual Report
• Disaster Preparedness
• Links
• Managing Conflict
• Medical Alerts
• Provider Directory
• Regulatory Updates
• Trends-Incidence
• Trends-National
• Trends-Prevalence
• Trends-Transplant
• Zip Code Data

Administration

• About Us
• Annual Meeting
• Coalition
• Email List
• ESRD Networks
• Privacy Policy
• Site Accessibility

Consumer Services

• Access to Success
• Common Concerns
• Consumer Committee
• Depression
• Grievance Poster
• Grievance Process
• Living Well Video
• Patient Concerns
• Patient Rights

Data Management

• 2728 Form
• 2746 Form
• Address Change
• CROWNWeb
• Data Compliance
• Data Policy/Procedure
• Newsletter
• Patient Activity Report

Quality Improvement

• Bone Disease
• CPM Report
• Elab Project
• Fistula First
• MRC Treatment Goals
• Patient Safety
• QI Information

Patient Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

As transplant and dialysis patients, we are consumers in a complex and costly health care system. Often we face problems in integrating our lives with the requirements of our medical treatment.

The Renal Network of the Upper Midwest is an organization of medical professionals and consumers that is mandated by the federal government to help coordinate the delivery of dialysis and transplant services in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

As part of its contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ESRD Network 11 works with dialysis facilities and transplant centers to assess and improve the quality of care provided for patients with end stage renal disease. Network 11 has adopted a Renal Patient Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. These are basic principles that all dialysis units should follow in dealing with the needs of patients.

We urge you to read this bill of rights and responsibilities thoroughly. If you have any questions concerning your rights as a consumer, you should discuss them with your health care team. We believe direct communication is one of the most important components of quality health care and that an informed patient is always able to make decisions that can improve both quality of care and quality of life. A downloadable and printable version of this document is available. (This is a large file. If you experience difficulty with viewing it in your browser, right-click on the link and select "Save Target (or Link) as..." Once the file is downloaded, open the copy you have saved.)

Patient Rights

Every renal patient should be guaranteed competent, high quality care and treatment given with respect and dignity. It is our belief that the informed renal patient is better equipped to cope with the stresses and decisions that may arise during his/her chosen therapy.

Patients have a right to:

• Respect, dignity, and recognition of their individuality and personal needs, and sensitivity to his or her psychological needs and ability to cope with ESRD.
• Receive all information in a way that they can understand.
• Privacy and confidentiality in all aspects of treatment and in personal medical records, including the right to view and receive a copy of their medical record (a nominal charge may be assessed).
• Be informed about and participate, if desired, in all aspects of their care, and be informed of the right to refuse treatment, to discontinue treatment, and to refuse to participate in experimental research.
• Be informed about their right to execute advance directives, and the facility’s policy regarding advance directives.
• Be informed about all treatment modalities and settings, including but not limited to, transplantation, home dialysis modalities (both peritoneal and hemodialysis), and in-facility hemodialysis. The patient has the right to receive resource information for dialysis modalities not offered by the facility, including information about alternative scheduling options for working patients.
• Be informed of facility policies regarding patient care, including, but not limited to, isolation of patients.
• Be informed of facility policies regarding the reuse of dialysis supplies, including Hemodialyzers.
• Be informed by the physician, nurse practitioner, or physicians assistant treating the patient for ESRD of their own medical status as documented in the medical record, unless the medical record contains a documented contraindication.
• Be informed of services available in the facility and charges for services not covered by Medicare.
• Receive the necessary services outlined in the Patient Plan of Care.
• Be informed of the rules and expectations of the facility regarding patient conduct and responsibilities.
• Be informed of the facility’s internal grievance process.
• Be informed of external grievance mechanisms and processes, including how to contact the ESRD Network and the State Survey Agency.
• Be informed of their right to file internal grievances or external grievances or both without reprisal or denial of services; and be informed that they may file internal or external grievances, personally, anonymously, or through a representative of the patient’s own choosing.
• Be informed of the facility’s policies for transfer, routine or involuntary discharge, and discontinuation of services to patients.
• The right to equal consideration of treatment without regard to age, sex, race, religion, or ethnic origin.
• Receive written 30-day notice in advance of an involuntary discharge after the facility follows the specific involuntary discharge procedure in the Conditions for Coverage, except in the case of immediate threats to the health and safety of others, when an abbreviated discharge procedure may be followed.

Patient Responsibilities

In order to make your treatment effective and improve the quality of your life, you and your family should take some specific responsibilities in the day-to-day management of your care. To improve your care:

• Learn all you can about your disease, its treatment, treatment options, and your rights and responsibilities as a renal patient.
• Recognize what an emergency is and what actions must be taken in emergency situations.
• Provide a complete and accurate medical history to the professional team supervising your care.
• Let a member of your professional team know if you do not understand information about your care and treatment.
• Tell a member of your professional care team if there is a sudden change in your condition.
• Obtain and take the medications prescribed for you or discuss with the professional care team why you are unable to do so.
• Follow your diet or request further instructions if you do not understand or are unable to follow your diet.
• Make every effort to arrive for your scheduled dialysis treatments on time and inform the dialysis unit if you are unable to come.
• Stay on dialysis for the prescribed length of your treatment run.
• Consider the needs of other patients whom you encounter and understand that the professional team has a responsibility for all of the patients under their care.
• Tell a member of your professional care team if you are diagnosed with a communicable disease.
• Inform a member of your professional care team if you need to miss regularly scheduled dialysis treatment(s) for vacation or any other reason.

Adapted from the Conditions for Coverage for End Stage Renal Disease Facilities
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Final Rule published April 15, 2008, Effective date October 14, 2008

Approved, Network 11 Consumer Committee 01/15/2009
Approved, Network 11 Executive Committee 02/26/2009