Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is committed to providing quality care as promptly and courteously as possible. It is important to us that you and your family members feel welcome at Children’s. You should know your child’s rights as a patient and your rights and responsibilities as a parent. If you have any questions about these rights and responsibilities, contact a patient representative at:

• Children’s at Egleston
  404-785-6163
• Children's at Hughes Spalding
  404-345-4815
• Children’s at Scottish Rite
  404-785-5194

Patient Privacy

This privacy notice (en Español) describes how medical information about your child may be used and disclosed, and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

Your Rights

You have the right to respect, emotional support, and confidentiality and security of information that supports you as a family. You have the right to have fair and respectful access to the resources of the hospital(s) and facilities necessary for your child’s care without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, sex, handicap or, in the case of emergency treatment, source of payment.

You have the right and are encouraged to talk openly with your child’s doctor, in a language you understand and with consideration for any speech and/or hearing impairment, regarding:

• Your child’s diagnosis and prescribed treatment
• Why treatments and tests are done and who does them
• Your child’s illness
• Your wish for a consultation or second opinion from another doctor
• The need to transfer your child to another facility and be told the alternatives to a transfer
• Your wish to change doctors and/or hospitals
• Instructions for continuing medical needs and requirements following your child’s discharge
• Ethical issues about your child’s care
• The financial impact of care choices

You also have the right to:

• Receive an explanation of all papers you are asked to sign
• Change your mind about any procedure for which you have given consent
• Refuse to sign a consent form you do not fully understand
• Refuse treatment and be informed of the medical results of this action
• Refuse to participate in research projects
• Receive information and instructions in ways that are understandable to you
• Receive information about how to access security and child protective services
• Take steps to resolve grievances (complaints) by contacting the patient representatives who review and respond in writing when needed
• Have your child be free from restraints and seclusion in any form when used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience for the staff or retaliation
• Be free from all forms of abuse and/or harassment
• Have your child’s pain assessed and reduced as much as possible with pain management efforts
• Review your child’s medical record with his or her attending doctor or designee in attendance while your child is hospitalized
• Request additions to your child’s medical record
• Contact the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (Joint Commission) by phone at 800-994-6610 or by e-mail at complaint@jcaho.org or send a letter to the Joint Commission Office of Quality and Monitoring, 1 Renaissance Boulevard, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181, at any time regarding your child’s care
• Contact the Georgia Department of Human Resource (DHR) at 404-657-5700 or send a letter to the DHR Office of Regulatory Services, 2 Peachtree St. NW, Suite 32-415, Atlanta, GA 30303, at any time regarding your child’s care

Playing Your Part

You and your child have the responsibility to:

• Provide accurate, complete information about present complaints, past illnesses, hospitalizations, medications and other matters related to your child’s health
• Produce, upon request, documentation of the right to consent for your child’s admission and treatment
• Ask for an explanation if you do not understand papers you are asked to sign or anything related to your child’s care
• Follow the care prescribed or recommended for your child by the doctors, nurses and other allied healthcare personnel; you are responsible for actions if you refuse treatment or do not follow instructions
• Report unexpected changes in your child’s condition to the responsible caregiver
• Know and follow the rules of the hospital, the patient care unit(s) and clinics
• Keep appointments and call to cancel or change an appointment as soon as possible
• Respect the rights and privacy of others
• Meet the financial responsibilities associated with your child’s care
• Call Children’s at 404-785-5589 if you have any questions about your bill

Adult Patient Rights

Adult patients (18 years of age or older) have the right to consent to, alter or refuse treatment and create an advanced directive (a document that expresses the patient’s wishes about care in the event that he becomes unable to communicate). You will receive information about advanced directives on admission, and you may request it at any time during your hospital visit.

Partners in Care

You and/or your child should expect:

• Personal privacy to be respected to the fullest extent consistent with the care prescribed
• Privacy with regard to protected health information
• To receive personal hygiene and grooming support
• Personal values and belief systems to be respected
• Reasonable safety insofar as the hospital practice and environment are concerned
• Access to people from outside the hospital
• Records pertaining to care, including the source of payment, to be kept confidential
• Access to records to be granted within a reasonable time frame and only to you or to those persons to whom you grant written permission or who are permitted by law
• To receive an itemized copy of the hospital bill upon request
• The course of treatment to be adapted to your specific needs and limitations

Difficult Treatment Decisions

If you need help with difficult decisions about the care of a patient, you may contact the Children’s Bioethics Committee, which is composed of doctors, nurses, chaplains, social workers and hospital administrators. Just ask your child’s nurse.