Visiting Cincinnati Children's
Your Rights and Responsibilities

Your Rights and Responsibilities

Respect for individual dignity is fundamental to Cincinnati Children’s. We respect the rights and responsibilities of our patients and their families.
  • Have a family member or representative of your choice and your physician notified promptly of an admission to the hospital;
  • Be treated considerately and respectfully regardless of their race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion, age, genetic information, physical or mental disability, marital or family status, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, military, veteran, or disabled veteran status, or other protected status in accordance with applicable federal, state, or local laws and regulations;
  • Know the names of your Cincinnati Children’s physicians and nurses and the care role they play;
  • Be told by the physician, in words you can understand, about an illness, treatment and prospects for recovery;
  • Receive as much information as you need in order to give or refuse consent for any proposed treatment;
  • Have an active role in medical care decisions, including the development and implementation of the care plan, which shall include the management of pain as appropriate;
  • Make an informed decision regarding care including, to the extent allowed by law, the refusal of care;
  • Privacy in medical care and treatment; this includes the right to be informed why individuals who are not directly involved in the care are present during treatments or discussions and personal privacy in general;
  • Receive care in a safe setting, free from all forms of abuse, harassment or corporal punishment;
  • Be free from restraint or seclusion used to coerce, discipline, retaliate or for convenience; to have trained staff safely implement permitted restraint or seclusion;
  • Confidential treatment of all communications and records regarding care received at Cincinnati Children’s; to access information in the medical record in a reasonable time frame;
  • Be aware and informed if Cincinnati Children’s feels that legal action is necessary to provide treatment;
  • Receive a clear explanation of the outcome of any treatments or procedures where the outcomes differ significantly from the anticipated outcomes;
  • Expect a response to any reasonable request for help in meeting special needs;
  • Request assistance with discharge planning;
  • Choose to remove your child or leave the hospital even when the physicians advise you not to, to the extent permitted by law; you will be required to sign a form that relieves Cincinnati Children’s of responsibility for your or your child’s welfare;
  • Know about any connections between Cincinnati Children’s and other institutions, as far as your or your child’s care is concerned;
  • Consent or refuse to participate in any research project;
  • Know what the continuing health care needs are after discharge from the hospital or outpatient service;
  • Know the charges for services provided, to examine your medical care bills and to receive an explanation of charges.
  • Provide, to the best of your knowledge, accurate and complete information about all related health matters;
  • Formulate advance directives and expect the hospital staff and practitioners who provide care will comply with these directives to the extent allowed by law;
  • Be considerate of other patients and staff and to encourage your visitors to be considerate as well;
  • Pay for hospital and outpatient services provided, to provide necessary information to process insurance claims and/or to plan for payment of health care bills as soon as possible;
  • Discuss with a financial counselor the possibility of financial aid to help in the payment of hospital and outpatient bills in cases of financial hardship (contact our financial counselor at 513-636-0201);
  • Follow the treatment plan recommended by the practitioner and agreed upon by you;
  • Follow Cincinnati Children’s policies and procedures concerning patient care and conduct;
  • Seek information, to the extent possible, from health care providers by asking any questions necessary to reach an understanding of health problem(s) and the treatment plan developed by you and the practitioner.

Our Family Relations Department at 513-636-4700 or advocates@cchmc.org

The Ohio Department of Health at 1-800-342-0553 or hccomplaints@odh.ohio.gov; Indiana State Department of Health at 317-233-5359 or complaints@isdh.in.gov; or Kentucky’s Office of the Inspector General at 859-246-2307 (based on where services were performed)

The Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org

Medicare beneficiaries have the right to request a review of their grievances. Medicare patients may make this request through Family Relations or by calling the Medicare Beneficiary helpline at 1-855-408-8557 (OH or IN), 1-844-430-9504 (KY) or www.keproqio.com.

Family Relations

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Contact Family Relations to speak to a patient advocate:

Phone: 513-636-4700
Email: advocates@cchmc.org

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