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25 Tex. Admin. Code § 133.42

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Patient rights

Hospitals must adopt, implement, and enforce a written policy that is prominently and conspicuously displayed in a public area of the hospital and is readily available to patients, residents, employees, and visitors, which ensures the following:

  • The right of the patient, in collaboration with his or her physician, to make decisions involving his or her health care, to include the right to accept or refuse medical care to the extent permitted by law and to be informed of the medical consequences of such refusal, and the right to formulate advance directives and to appoint a surrogate to make health care decisions on the patient's behalf to the extent permitted by law;
  • That a mechanism is in place to determine the existence of, and, as appropriate, assist in the development of advance directives at the time of the patient's admission;
  • That an advance directive(s) will be in the patient's medical record and will be reviewed periodically with the patient or surrogate decision maker if the patient has executed an advance directive;
  • The right of the patient to the information necessary to enable him or her to make treatment decisions that reflect his or her wishes;
  • That a policy on informed decision making will be adopted, implemented and enforced by the medical staff and governing body that is consistent with any legal requirements;
  • The right of the patient to receive, at the time of admission, information about the hospital's patient rights policy(ies) and the mechanism for the initiation, review, and when possible, resolution of patient complaints concerning the quality of care;
  • The right of the patient or designated representative to participate in the consideration of ethical issues that arise in the care of the patient;
  • That a mechanism is in place for the consideration of ethical issues arising in the care of patients and to provide education to care givers and patients on ethical issues in health care;
  • The right of the patient to be informed of any human experimentation or other research or educational projects affecting his or her care or treatment;
  • The right of the patient, within the limits of law, to personal privacy and confidentiality of information;
  • The right of the patient or his legally designated representative to access the information contained in the patient's medical record, within the limits of the law; and
  • The right of the patient's guardian, next of kin, or legally authorized responsible person to exercise, to the extent permitted by law, the rights delineated on behalf of the patient if the patient has been determined incompetent, is found to be medically incapable of understanding the proposed treatment or procedure, is unable to communicate his or her wishes regarding treatment, or is a minor. 

Current as of June 2015