At BID Needham, we support your right to know about your health and illness, and your right to participate in decisions that affect your well-being. In Massachusetts there is a law designed to help protect the rights of patients in health care facilities (Massachusetts General Laws, chapter 111, Section 70E).

Your Rights

  • To receive medical care that meets the highest standards of BID Needham, regardless of your race, religion, national origin, any disability or handicap, gender, sexual orientation, military service, or the source of payment for your care.
  • To receive care that is considerate of your culture and respectful of your personal beliefs and preferences.
  • To be involved in your plan of care including to take part in decisions relating to your health care requests and or refusals for treatment and services.
  • To privacy during medical treatment or any other rendering of care and treatment within the hospital’s capacity.
  • To have all reasonable requests responded to promptly and adequately within the capacity of BID Needham.
  • Upon request, to obtain from BID Needham the name and specialty, if any, of the physician or other person responsible for your care or the coordination of that care.
  • To make an informed decision regarding the care you will receive including the right for you or your representative to receive information prior to treatment including information about your health status, risks, benefits, potential complications and alternatives, before consenting to or refusing treatment and to be informed in advance before furnishing or discontinuation of care, whenever possible.
  • The right to have a family member or representative of your choice and your own physician promptly notified of your admission to the hospital.
  • To be informed at your initial evaluation that pain relief is an important part of your care, that your caregivers will respond quickly to reports of pain, work with you to establish goals for pain prevention and relief, as well as develop and implement a plan to achieve those goals.
  • Upon request, to obtain an explanation as to the relationship, if any, of BID Needham or your physician to any other healthcare facility or educational institution insofar as said relationship relates to your care or treatment.
  • Upon request, to obtain a copy of any Hospital rules or regulations which apply to your conduct as a patient.
  • Upon request, to receive a copy of the bill or other statement of charges submitted to any third-party by BID Needham for your care.
  • To inquire and receive information about the possibility of financial aid and public assistance. For inquiries related to financial aid and public assistance, please contact the Financial Assistance office at 781-453-3070.
  • To confidentiality of all records and communications to the extent provided by law.
  • Upon request, to access the information contained in your medical records and to receive a copy thereof within a reasonable time frame as quickly as the hospital record keeping system permits, in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 111, Section 70E.
  • To refuse to be examined, observed or treated by students or any other BID Needham staff without jeopardizing access to psychiatric, psychological or other medical care and attention.
  • To refuse to serve as a research subject and to refuse any care or examination when the primary purpose is educational or informational rather than therapeutic.
  • To prompt lifesaving treatment in an emergency without discriminating on account of economic status or source of payment and without delaying treatment for purposes of prior discussion of the source of payment unless such delay can be imposed without material risk to health.
  • To participate in consideration of ethical questions that arise in the course of care including conflict resolution, withholding resuscitative services, and forgoing or withdrawal of life sustaining treatments.
  • To access protective services.
  • If you are a female rape victim of childbearing age, to receive medically and factually accurate written information prepared by the commissioner of public health about emergency contraception; to be promptly offered emergency contraception; and to be provided with emergency contraception upon request.
  • To complete information from your physician on all alternative treatments that are medically viable in the event that you are suffering from any form of breast cancer.
  • To receive information tailored to your age, language and ability to understand. If you are a patient with limited English proficiency, BID Needham will provide access to meaningful communication via a qualified interpreter service provided either in person, or via telephone. If you are a patient who is deaf or hard of hearing, BID Needham will request a certified interpreter from the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
  • To receive information about how you can get assistance with concerns and complaints about the quality of care or service you receive, and to initiate a formal grievance process with the Hospital or other state or regulatory agencies.
  • To receive care in a safe setting within the hospital.
  • To formulate advance directives and to have hospital staff and practitioners who provide care in the hospital comply with these directives.

Any person whose rights under this section are violated may bring, in addition to any other action allowed by law or regulation, a civil action under Sections 60B to 60E, inclusive, of Chapter 231.