Patient-centered Care

You will be asked to choose your primary-care provider from our team of physicians, family-medicine residents, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. This guarantees that you are seeing someone you trust and feel comfortable talking with about your health.

Your provider will ask what you want to improve about your health to set your goal.

You and your provider will go over your plan of care – a plan you feel able to follow.

Your provider may ask you to have blood tests before your visit so the two of you can discuss the results at your appointment.

You have the right to:

• Considerate and respectful care without discrimination based on race, religion, color, sex, age, ethnicity, marital status, parental status, disabilities, sexual orientation, or insurance coverage.
• Know the names and positions of everyone involved in your care. Names will be displayed on official name tags. Staff members also will be personally introduced.
• Get information from your provider about your diagnosis, treatment and prognosis, using words you can understand.
• Take part in decisions regarding your care.
• Get information you need from your provider to give permission for any procedures and/or treatments.
• Refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and be told of the medical consequences of your actions.
• Every consideration of privacy regarding your care. 
• Expect that all communications and records pertaining to your care will be treated as confidential. Your information will not be shared without your permission unless required by law.
• Receive a copy of your medical records. 
• Voice suggestions, complaints and grievances to appropriate levels of authority and receive a satisfactory response.
• Be told if the health center plans to participate in human experimentation that will affect your care or treatment.
• Expect reasonable continuity of care among providers. 
• Receive and review an explanation of your bill, regardless of your insurance coverage.
• Know what health center rules and regulations apply to you as a patient.
• Appropriate access to emergency services.

You have the responsibility to:

• Provide a complete and accurate medical history. 
• Provide the health center with a list of your current medications. 
• Keep your scheduled appointments or call us to cancel. 
• Work with health-care providers to create and carry out agreed-upon treatment plans.
• Express any concerns about your ability to follow your treatment plan.
• Be considerate of the rights of other patients, health center staff and property.
• Provide the health center with accurate and up-to-date information about your health-care coverage and your ability to pay for services.

We understand that information about you and your health care is personal. We are committed to protecting your health information. We create a record of the care and services you receive from us. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This confidentiality applies to all of the records of your care generated by our community health center, whether made by your personal doctor or others working in this center. In the course of providing care, patient information may be shared with other providers who are involved in the patient’s care, as appropriate.

We are required by law to:

• Make sure that health information that identifies you is kept private. 
• Give you a notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information about you; and 
• Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.

A full copy of our notice of primary practice, in English or Spanish, is given to each patient at the first visit or any time he or she requests it.