Patient Rights & Responsibilities

The DMC Community Promise - Our Mission

The Detroit Medical Center (DMC) aspires to be the premier healthcare resource in Southeast Michigan and among the finest health care centers in the United States through excellence in the provision of clinical care enhanced by education and research. In all clinical endeavors quality of care is paramount. In addition, the DMC believes that access to quality health care is the right of every human being. DMC, along with local, state and federal government, supports a unique Public Mission to the residents of the communities we serve to assure that this right is preserved.

An important part of our Public Mission is providing financial assistance to uninsured and underinsured patients, on terms at least as generous as the applicable charity care policy.

For patients in need, DMC provides a patient-care hotline; for help with your hospital bill or financial assistance, please call (855) 362-9600.

DMC also provides on-site assistance. If you are in a DMC hospital, please ask to speak with a hospital registration representative for help in resolving your issue.

Our hotline and on-site assistance can help you in applying for Medicaid coverage.

DMC Patient-Care Ombudsman

DMC offers access to a patient-care Ombudsman. You may reach the Ombudsman at (855) 362-9600 for assistance with unresolved billing issues. You may also email the Ombudsman at [email protected].

DMC adheres to a debt-collection policy that complies with all federal and state collection law practices.

PATIENTS’ RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

In accordance with section 333.20201 of the Michigan Statutes, this healthcare facility has adopted the following list of Patient rights.

Patients Rights and Responsibilities English

Patients Rights and Responsibilities Spanish

Patients Rights and Responsibilities Arabic

While you are a patient here you have the right:

Not to be denied the appropriate care on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual preference or source of payment;
To inspect, or receive for a reasonable fee, a copy of your medical record upon request in accordance with the Medical Records Access Act, 2004 PA 47, Mi. St. 333.26261 to 333.26271. Except as otherwise permitted or required under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191, or regulations promulgated under that act, 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164 (HIPAA), a third party shall not be given a copy of your medical record without your authorization;
To confidential treatment of personal and medical records, and to refuse their release to a person outside the health facility or agency, except as required because of a transfer to another healthcare facility, as required by law or third-party payment contract, or as permitted or required under HIPAA;
To privacy, to the extent feasible, in treatment and in caring for personal needs with consideration, respect, and full recognition of his or her dignity and individuality;
To receive adequate and appropriate care, and to receive, from the appropriate individual within the health facility or agency, information about your medical condition, proposed course of treatment and prospects for recovery, in terms you can understand, unless medically contracted as documented by the attending physician in the medical record;
To refuse treatment to the extent provided by law and to be informed of the consequences of that refusal. If a refusal of treatment prevents a health facility or agency or its staff from providing appropriate care according to professional and ethical standards, the relationship with you may be terminated upon reasonable notice;
To exercise your rights as a patient or resident and as a citizen, and to this end to present grievances or recommend changes in policies and services on behalf of you or others to the health facility or agency staff, to governmental officials or to another person of your choice within or outside the health facility or agency, free from restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination or reprisal. You are entitled to information about the health facility’s or agency’s policies and procedures for initiation, review and resolution of patient or resident complaints;
To information concerning and experimental procedure proposed as a part of your care, and to refuse to participate in the experimental procedure without jeopardizing your continuing care;
To receive and examine an explanation of your bill, regardless of the source of payment, and to receive, upon request, information relating to financial assistance available through the health facility or agency;
To know who is responsible for and who is providing your direct care, to receive information concerning your continuing health needs and alternatives for meeting those needs, and to be involved in your discharge planning, if appropriate;
To associate and have private communications and consultations with your physician, attorney, or any other person of his or her choice and to send and receive personal mail unopened on the same day it is received at the facility, unless medically contraindicated as documented by the attending physician in the medical record. Your civil and religious liberties, including the right to independent personal decisions and the right to knowledge of available choices, shall not be infringed, and the facility will encourage and assist in the fullest possible exercise of these rights. You may meet with, and participate in, the activities of social, religious and community groups at your discretion, unless medically contraindicated as documented by the attending physician in the medical record;
To be free from mental and physical abuse and from physical and chemical restraints, except those restraints authorized in writing by the attending physician for a specified and limited time, or as are necessitated by an emergency to protect you from injury to yourself or others, in which case the restraint may only be applied by a qualified professional who shall set forth in writing the circumstances requiring the use of restraints, and who shall promptly report the action to the attending physician. In case of a chemical restraint, a physician shall be consulted within 24 hours after the commencement of the chemical restraint;
To be free from performing services for the health facility or agency that are not included for therapeutic purposes in the plan of care;
To information about the health facility or agency rules and regulations affecting patient care and conduct; and
To adequate and appropriate pain and symptom management as a basic and essential element of your medical treatment.

Complaints and Grievances

To submit complaints and grievances, please call the Compliance Hotline at 800-838-4427.
In addition, you may file a complaint with:
Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) Bureau of Community and Health Systems – Health Facility Complaints
PO Box 30664, Lansing, MI 48909
[email protected]
800-882-6006 (toll free)
Joint Commission Office of Quality and Patient Safety
One Renaissance Boulevard,
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
fax: 630-792-5636 or e-mail: [email protected];
Livanta – Medicare Quality of Care Complaints – BFCC-QIO
10820 Guildford Road, Suite 202, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701
888-524-9900 (toll-free); fax: 855-236-2423

The Detroit Medical Center will not retaliate against or seek retribution from those persons who file complaints.