§ 2803-C — Rights of patients in certain medical facilities

§ 2803-c. Rights of patients in certain medical facilities. 1. The\nprinciples enunciated in subdivision three hereof are declared to be the\npublic policy of the state and a copy of such statement of rights and\nresponsibilities shall be posted conspicuously in a public place in each\nfacility covered hereunder.\n 2. The commissioner shall require that every nursing home and facility\nproviding health related service, as defined in subdivision two and\nparagraph (b) of subdivision four of section twenty-eight hundred one of\nthis article, shall adopt and make public a statement of the rights and\nresponsibilities of the patients who are receiving care in such\nfacilities, and shall treat such patients in accordance with the\nprovisions of such statement.\n 3. Said statement of rights and responsibilities shall include, but\nnot be limited to the following:\n a. Every patient's civil and religious liberties, including the right\nto independent personal decisions and knowledge of available choices,\nshall not be infringed and the facility shall encourage and assist in\nthe fullest possible exercise of these rights.\n b. Every patient shall have the right to have private communications\nand consultations with his or her physician, attorney, and any other\nperson.\n c. Every patient shall have the right to present grievances on behalf\nof himself or herself or others, to the facility's staff or\nadministrator, to governmental officials, or to any other person without\nfear of reprisal, and to join with other patients or individuals within\nor outside of the facility to work for improvements in patient care.\n d. Every patient shall have the right to manage his or her own\nfinancial affairs, or to have at least a quarterly accounting of any\npersonal financial transactions undertaken in his or her behalf by the\nfacility during any period of time the patient has delegated such\nresponsibilities to the facility.\n e. Every patient shall have the right to receive adequate and\nappropriate medical care, to be fully informed of his or her medical\ncondition and proposed treatment unless medically contraindicated, and\nto refuse medication and treatment after being fully informed of and\nunderstanding the consequences of such actions.\n f. Every patient shall have the right to have privacy in treatment and\nin caring for personal needs, confidentiality in the treatment of\npersonal and medical records, and security in storing personal\npossessions.\n g. Every patient shall have the right to receive courteous, fair, and\nrespectful care and treatment and a written statement of the services\nprovided by the facility, including those required to be offered on an\nas-needed basis.\n h. Every patient shall be free from mental and physical abuse and from\nphysical and chemical restraints, except those restraints authorized in\nwriting by a physician for a specified and limited period of time or as\nare necessitated by an emergency in which case the restraint may only be\napplied by a qualified licensed nurse who shall set forth in writing the\ncircumstances requiring the use of restraint and in the case of use of a\nchemical restraint a physician shall be consulted within twenty-four\nhours.\n i. A statement of the facility's regulations and an explanation of the\npatient's responsibility to obey all reasonable regulations of the\nfacility and to respect the personal rights and private property of the\nother patients.\n j. A statement that should the patient be adjudicated incompetent and\nnot be restored to legal capacity, or if a conservator should be\nappointed for the patient, the above rights and responsibilities shall\nbe exercised by the appointed committee or conservator in a\nrepresentative capacity.\n k. Every patient shall have the right to receive upon request kosher\nfood or food products prepared in accordance with sections two hundred\none-a, two hundred one-b and two hundred one-c of the agriculture and\nmarkets law.\n k-1. Every patient shall have the right to receive upon request halal\nfood or food products prepared in accordance with sections two hundred\none-e, two hundred one-f and two hundred one-g of the agriculture and\nmarkets law.\n l. Pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner, no\nfacility or individual and no general hospital providing medical care to\npersons having been admitted from such facilities or from adult care\nfacilities covered by the provisions of section four hundred sixty-one-b\nof the social services law, or to applicants for readmission to such\nfacilities or to adult care facilities covered by the provisions of\nsection four hundred sixty-one-b of the social services law, shall\nrestrict or prohibit the access to the facility or general hospital nor\ninterfere with the performance of the official duties, including\nconfidential visits with residents, of duly designated persons\nparticipating in the long term care ombudsman program as provided for in\nsection two hundred eighteen of the elder law.\n m. Pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner in\nconsultation with the director of the office for the aging, no facility\nshall restrict or prohibit access by records access ombudsmen specially\ndesignated under section five hundred forty-four of the executive law to\nthe medical or personal records of any patient or resident if such\npatient or resident, or, where appropriate, committee for an\nincompetent, has given express written consent to such disclosure;\nprovided, however, that (i) in the case of medical records, disclosure\nmay be exclusive of the personal notes of the physician as defined in\nsuch regulations and (ii) access may be limited to such times as may be\nspecified in such regulations. Such records shall be made available by a\nmember or members of the facility's staff who shall be designated by the\nfacility to provide access to and, where necessary, interpretation of\nsuch records to such records access ombudsman, who shall have the right\nto photocopy such records. The facility may charge a reasonable fee for\nphotocopying pursuant to such regulations. Disclosure to a records\naccess ombudsman of records of any patient or resident pursuant to the\nwritten consent of such patient or resident shall not give rise to any\nclaim against the facility, its staff, or the patient's or resident's\nphysician based solely on the fact of such disclosure pursuant to such\nwritten consent. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit\nor abridge any right of access to records, including financial records,\notherwise available to ombudsmen, patients or residents, or any other\nperson.\n n. Pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commissioner in\nconsultation with the director of the office for the aging, no facility\nor individual shall retaliate or take reprisals against any resident,\nemployee, or other person for having filed a complaint with, or having\nprovided information to, any long term care patient ombudsman\nfunctioning in accordance with section five hundred forty-four or five\nhundred forty-five of the executive law, nor shall any facility or\nindividual interfere with the official duties of any such ombudsman.\nSuch regulations shall provide for appropriate sanctions with respect to\nsuch retaliation, reprisals, or interference.\n (o) Every patient shall have the right to authorize those family\nmembers and other adults who will be given priority to visit consistent\nwith the patient's or resident's ability to receive visitors.\n p. A statement informing the patient of his or her right to make\norgan, tissue or whole body donations, and the means by which the\npatient may make such a donation. The commissioner shall promulgate any\nrules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this\nparagraph.\n q. A statement indicating the policy of the facility regarding the\ngranting of physician privileges to residents.\n r. Every patient shall have the right to remain in care unless the\npatient is appropriately discharged or transferred in accordance with\nsection two thousand eight hundred three-z of this article and a\nresidential health care facility shall not attempt to compel or\nretaliate against an individual that chooses to remain in care.\n 4. Each facility shall give a copy of the statement to each patient at\nor prior to the time of admission to the facility, or to the appointed\npersonal representative at the time of appointment and to each member of\nthe facility's staff.\n 5. Each facility shall prepare a written plan and provide appropriate\nstaff training to implement each patient's right included in the\nstatement.\n 6. The department shall translate and make available to all facilities\nthe statement in the ten most common non-English languages spoken by\nindividuals with limited-English proficiency in New York state as based\non the most recent United States census. Each facility shall post and\nmake available copies of said statement for residents under subdivisions\none, two, and four of this section.\n