Patient Rights & Responsibilities

Do you know your healthcare rights?

Patient Responsibilities

Your responsibilities as an inpatient or outpatient of Dallas County Hospital include the following:

Provide accurate and complete information regarding your health status.
Follow recommended treatment plans.
You must abide by hospital rules and regulations that affect patient care and conduct and be considerate of the rights of other patients and hospital personnel.
Fulfill your financial obligation as soon as possible following discharge or treatment.

Patient Rights

Your rights as a patient (inpatient or outpatient) of Dallas County Hospital include the following:

Access to treatment regardless of race, creed, sex, national origin, diagnosis, or source of payment for care.
Preservation of individual dignity and protection of personal privacy in receipt of care.
Confidentiality of medical and other appropriate information.
Assurance of reasonable safety within the hospital.
Knowledge of the identity of the physician or other practitioner primarily responsible for your care as well as the identity and professional status of others providing services to you while in/at the hospital.
You have the right to obtain information regarding your medical condition unless medically contraindicated, to consult with a specialist at your request and expense, and to refuse treatment to the extent authorized by law.
To have access to and explanation of patient billing.
To understand the process for patient pursuit of grievances.

Visitation Rights

We recognize the importance of family, spouses, partners, friends and other visitors in the care process of patients. We adopt and affirm as policy the following visitation rights of patients/clients who receive services from our facilities:

To be informed of their visitation rights, including any clinical restriction or limitation of their visitation rights
To designate visitors, including but not limited to a spouse, a domestic partner (including same sex), family members, and friends. These visitors will not be restricted or otherwise denied visitation privileges on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation or disability.
All visitors will enjoy full and equal visitation privileges consistent with any clinically necessary or other reasonable restriction or limitation that facilities may need to place on such rights
To receive visits from one’s attorney, physician or clergyperson at any reasonable time
To speak privately with anyone, he/she wishes (subject to hospital visiting regulations) unless a doctor does not think it is medically advised
To refuse visitors
Media representatives and photographers must contact the hospital spokesperson for access to the hospital