Patient Support Services

Patient Support Services
Vanassa Kay Fultz
HCA305: The U.S. Health Care System
Quida Davis
November 1, 2010


Patient Support Services
Patient Support Service is information and advice on your local health care services, help the public be informed of what services are available to them.   Also can help resolve any problems with their healthcare service and advise them on how to make a formal complaint if needed. The social services department helps patients with discharge plans and help with the community based services. Generally this department assists patients and their family with achieving the best social and domestic environment for the patients care and recovery. (Sultz & Young, 2009, 3.2)
A Patient's Bill of Rights is one of the information’s that is available through the Patient Support Services. The Bill of Rights lets a patient know what they are allowed to know and what rights that a person has as recipients of medical care. Typically, a statement articulates the positive rights which doctors and hospitals ought to provide patients, thereby providing information, offering fair treatment, and granting them autonomy over medical decisions. Bipartisan Patient Protection Act (Senate bill S.1052)  
The Senate-passed Patients' Bill of Rights confers a broad array of rights on patients. The bill would ensure that patients with health care plans have the right to:
  * have their medical decisions made by a doctor;
  * see a medical specialist;
  * go to the closest emergency room;
  * designate a pediatrician as a primary care doctor for their children;
  * keep the same doctor throughout their medical treatment;
  * obtain the prescription drugs their doctor prescribes;
  * access a fair and independent appeals process if care is denied; and
  * Hold their health plan accountable for harm done.
This bill was passed by the US Senate by a vote of 59-36 in 2001. (The Senate-passed)
The University Of Colorado Hospital has many...