Methodist Hospital Patient’s Bill of Rights:Your Rights

Understanding Charges:

You have the right to know the immediate and long-term financial implications of treatment choices, insofar as they are known, and you have the right to receive within a reasonable period of time, an explanation of the hospital’s statement of charges for services rendered. Upon request you will be provided with an itemized statement to assist in completing and processing your insurance forms.

Your Right to Confidentiality:

You have the right to confidentiality in the handling of your health information except when reporting is required by law.
You have the right to personal privacy as written in the federal regulation, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). We will make reasonable efforts to see that its uses, disclosures, and requests for disclosure of Protected Health Information are limited to the minimum amount necessary to accomplish the billing and collection of your account(s).

Your Responsibilities:

Your Responsibility to Provide Complete and Accurate Billing Information
It is important that we are provided with complete health insurance information upon registration. This includes presenting a driver’s license or ID, all insurance cards and authorization forms. This information must be provided each time you are registered.

You are responsible for your physician’s order if you are scheduled for outpatient services. If you do not have an order, please be sure your physician has faxed it to the hospital prior to your arrival. Your order must include a diagnosis.
You are responsible for providing information relating to your plan coverage at the time of admission or registration. Please understand and comply with the requirements of your insurance. Know your benefits, and obtain proper authorization for services when required. The HMO, PPO or Medicaid Managed Care plans may require a referral, prior authorization, or certification prior to services being rendered. If you receive a service that is not covered by your insurance, you may be asked to sign an Advance Beneficiary Notice or Letter of Non-Coverage to signify that you have been informed of your payment responsibility.

Your Financial Responsibility:

You have the responsibility to meet your financial obligation to the hospital. That responsibility includes the provision of information necessary for filing insurance claims, and cooperation with the hospital when other payment arrangements are necessary.

You must respond promptly to requests you receive from your insurance. While we will attempt to provide all information and paperwork to your insurance, sometimes they require a response from you to resolve issues related to your account or insurance coverage.

Although the Methodist Hospitals maintain an active follow-up program with all insurance carriers, it is the patient’s responsibility to contact their insurance company to ensure prompt payment of their accounts.
Please make timely payments on your portion of the bill. Payment for your hospital bill is ultimately your responsibility. You may be asked to pay at the time of service or prior to discharge if you have a deductible, co-payment, co-insurance or other self-pay amount.

For your convenience, we accept cash, personal checks, money orders, Visa, MasterCard or Discover. Short term interest free payment options are available as well as loans for the longer term payment plans.
Please let us know if you anticipate problems paying your bill. As a not-for-profit organization we are happy to assist those in need. If you are having financial difficulties, please let us know. Financial Services at the hospital can discuss payment alternatives that may be available to you.



My comments on Methodist Hospital ‘Bills of Rights.’

Let me just start by saying that the crafting of the ‘Bills’ disturbs me a bit. In any organization, it’s always best to place focus on client’s satisfaction. The problem that I see in this ‘Bill of Rights’ is that the introductory paragraph emphasizes on ‘charges’ rather than clients best interest. Ninety- five per cent of the’ Bill’ is about the payment that patients ought to make; only five percent of it instructs patients of their rights to confidentiality.

I feel that too much focus is placed on the Hospital financial gain as opposed to patient’s right to get adequate care. After all, this is the ultimate reason why people go to the hospital.

The only thing I like about it is that at the very end of the ‘Bill’, advice is given to those who have financial hardships to let the financial service at the hospital know about it so payment alternative can be looked at.

Honestly, I feel that the Bill of Rights could easily be called ‘Bills of Responsibilities’.