Patient Information

Overview

Patient Feedback

Because Mercy Hospital cares, we invite you to share your concerns and feedback regarding your experience. We welcome any comments or suggestions you have that would help us improve the quality of healthcare we provide to those in need.

For your convenience, please leave a confidential voicemail with our Patient Experience Team at 330.458.4234.

Patient Forms

Find patient forms, which are available for you to download and print.

• Authorization For Release Of Health Information

Patient Rights Responsibilities

At Mercy Hospital, we believe in a patient’s rights. Patients are responsible for decisions regarding their health care unless they are not able to make these decisions. At that time, a person chosen by the patient, would be consulted.

Mercy Hospital supports the following patient’s rights:

• Reasonable access to care.
• Written notice of your rights as early as possible.
• The right to compliment or to complain about services received.
• Participation and contribution to your plan of care.
• Informed consent (after being advised of the risks, benefits, and alternatives) before receiving treatments, procedures, blood or blood products, anesthesia or sedation.
• Complete information regarding your status (e.g. diagnosis, treatment and prognosis) in terms you can understand.
• The right to refuse care and receive information on the expected consequences of refusal of care.
• The right to refuse to participate in the required activities of daily living that may be therapeutic in nature.
• The right to initiate advance directives and have the staff and physicians honor these directives.
• The right to have a family member or representative notified upon admission to the hospital.
• Care that respects personal, psychological, cultural and spiritual beliefs.
• Respectful, compassionate care at the end of life.
• Care in a safe setting.
• Personal privacy.
• Care that is free from abuse or harassment.
• Right to be addressed in a civil and courteous manner.
• Right to know the names and roles of all persons involved in your care.
• Confidentiality of your medical record information.
• Information from your medical record within a reasonable time frame.
• Freedom from restraints of any kind that are not medically necessary.
• Timely clinical attention, including appropriate pain management.
• Information about pain and pain relief.
• A response from your doctor or nurse when you report pain.
• Assistance with physical disabilities and limitations.
• Ability to communicate with people outside of the hospital. Any communication restrictions are made with your consent, or your representative if appropriate.
• An interpreter for non-English speaking patients or those with other special communication needs.
• The right to be advised of the expected benefits of research, investigation and clinical trial projects, as well as, the potential discomforts and risks of alternative services.
• The right to refuse participation in research, investigation, and clinical trial projects. Your refusal will not compromise access to other services.
• Access to adult and child protective services.
• Access to assistance in domestic violence situations.
• Information of care you will need after discharge.
• The right to help prepare a discharge plan.
• Your choice of provider to continue care after discharge.
• The right to receive an explanation of your bill.
• The right to make a decision regarding organ and tissue donation.
• The right to consult the Ethics Committee.
• The Ohio Department of Health hotline number for complaintsis 1-800-342-0553.

The Ethics Committee
The Ethics Committee members are a team of healthcare professionals who provide a multi-disciplinary approach to all issues brought to the committee for attention.

Issues Where Ethics Committee Members May Be Helpful:

• Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders/protocol
• Informed consent
• Patient’s rights regarding treatment
• Appropriateness of withholding or withdrawing life support systems
• Implementation of the Durable Power of Attorney or Living Will
• Confidentiality/Patient Privacy and other patients’ rights issues
• Organ donation/procurement
• Nutrition and Hydration
• Blood Transfusion

Who Can Ask for an Ethics Consult?
The patient, family members or representative, doctor or any of the staff may ask for a consultation with persons from the Ethics Committee.

How Can a Member of the Ethics Committee be Reached?
Ask your doctor, nurse or any other staff member involved in your care. This person will call a member of the Ethics Committee. Members of the Ethics Committee are available to provide information regarding health care decisions, talk about concerns and be a support for the patient, family, physician or other caregivers.

Patient Responsibilities

• Follow the doctors’ orders and your treatment plan.
• Give correct and complete facts about your treatment and about how you are feeling.
• Ask questions when you don’t understand information or instructions given.
• Discuss pain relief choices with your doctor or nurse.
• Ask for pain relief as soon as the pain begins.
• Tell the doctors and nurses about any pain that won’t go away.
• Be responsible for your actions if you refuse treatment or if you do not follow the doctor’s orders and your treatment plan.
• Take care of hospital property and the belongings of others.
• Keep all personal items properly stored.
• Follow the rules about safety and infection control.
• Respect the privacy of staff and other patients.
• Respect the need for quiet in the hospital.
• Keep visitors to a reasonable number of people.
• Give correct information regarding your health insurance.

To make the necessary arrangements for payment of services provided.

These beliefs are in addition to, and do not take the place of, rights accorded patients under Chapter 5122 of the Ohio Revised Code. These beliefs are guidelines and are not meant to replace the standard of care of patients at the hospital.

Code of Ethical Behavior
Mercy Hospital has the responsibility to the patients and to the community it serves to conduct patient care and all other business within a consistent ethical framework as defined by its mission, values and related policies.

Such ethical practices include, but are not limited to, all areas of patient rights, billing practices, admission, transfer and discharge practices, and avoidance of conflict of interest in contractual relationships.

Patient Safety

• The single most important way you can help to prevent errors is to be an active member of your health care team. That means taking part in every decision about your health care. Research shows that patients who are more involved with their care tend to get better results. Some specific tips, based on the latest scientific evidence about what works best, follow.
• Make sure that all of your doctors know about everything you are taking. This includes prescription and over-the-counter medicines, and dietary supplements such as vitamins and herbs. At least once a year, bring all of your medicines and supplements with you to your doctor. “Brown bagging” your medicines can help you and your doctor talk about them and find out if there are any problems. It can also help your doctor keep your records up to date, which can help you get better quality care.
• Make sure your doctor knows about any allergies and adverse reactions you have had to medicines. This can help you avoid getting a medicine that can harm you.
• When your doctor writes you a prescription, make sure you can read it. If you can’t read your doctor’s handwriting, your pharmacist might not be able to either.
• Ask for information about your medicines in terms you can understand-both when your medicines are prescribed and when you receive them. Questions to Ask about Your Medicine:
  • What is medicine for?
  • How am I supposed to take it, and for how long?
  • What side effects are likely?
  • What do I do if they occur?
  • Is this medicine safe to take with other medicines or dietary supplements I am taking?
  • What food, drink, or activities?
• When you pick up your medicine from the pharmacy, ask: Is this the medicine that my doctor prescribed? A study by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences found that 88 percent of medicine errors involved the wrong drug or the wrong dose.
• If you have any questions about the directions on your medicine labels, ask. Medicine labels can be hard to understand. For example, ask if “four doses daily” means taking a dose every 6 hours around the clock or just during regular waking hours.
• Ask your pharmacist for the best device to measure your liquid medicine. Also, ask questions if you’re not sure how to use it. Research shows that many people do not understand the right way to measure liquid medicines. For example, many use household teaspoons, which often do not hold a true teaspoon of liquid. Special devices, like marked syringes, help people to measure the right dose. Being told how to use the devices helps even more.
• Ask for written information about the side effects your medicine could cause. If you know what might happen, you will be better prepared if it does-or, if something unexpected happens instead. That way, you can report the problem right away and get help before it gets worse. A study found that written information about medicines could help patients recognize problem side effects and then give that information to their doctor or pharmacist.

Hospital Stays

• If you have a choice, choose a hospital at which many patients have the procedure or surgery you need. Research shows that patients tend to have better results when they are treated in hospitals that have a great deal of experience with their condition.
• If you are in a hospital, consider asking all health care workers who have direct contact with you whether they have washed their hands. Hand washing is an important way to prevent the spread of infections in hospitals. Yet, it is not done regularly or thoroughly enough. A recent study found that when patients checked whether health care workers washed their hands, the workers washed their hands more often and used more soap.
• When you are being discharged from the hospital, ask your doctor to explain the treatment plan you will use at home. This includes learning about your medicines and finding out when you can get back to your regular activities. Research shows that at discharge time, doctors think their patients understand more than they really do about what they should or should not do when they return home.

Surgery
If you are having surgery, make sure that you, your doctor, and your surgeon all agree and are clear on exactly what will be done. Doing surgery at the wrong site (for example, operating on the left knee instead of the right) is rare. But even once is too often. The good news is that wrong-site surgery is 100 percent preventable. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons urges its members to sign their initials directly on the site to be operated on before the surgery.

Other Steps You Can Take

• Speak up if you have questions or concerns. You have a right to question anyone who is involved with your care.
• Make sure that someone, such as your personal doctor, is in charge of your care. This is especially important if you have many health problems or are in a hospital.
• Make sure that all health professionals involved in your care have important health information about you. Do not assume that everyone knows everything they need to.
• Ask a family member or friend to be there with you and to be your advocate (someone who can help get things done and speak up for you if you can’t). Even if you think you don’t need help now, you might need it later.
• Know that “more” is not always better. It is a good idea to find out why a test or treatment is needed and how it can help you. You could be better off without it.
• If you have a test, don’t assume that no news is good news. Ask about the results.
• Learn about your condition and treatments by asking your doctor and nurse and by using other reliable sources. For example, treatment recommendations based on the latest scientific evidence are available from the National Guidelines Clearinghouse
• Ask your doctor if your treatment is based on the latest evidence.