Grievance Procedure

Patient-Facility Agreement

Magee Rehabilitation provides comprehensive physical rehabilitation services to assist you in gaining as much functional recovery as possible and improving your level of independence in the community.

We are pleased that you have chosen Magee as the facility for your rehabilitation services. In order to create the most mutually beneficial working relationship, the following rights and responsibilities are outlined for both patients and staff.

You have a right to expect that all staff:

  1. Will provide care that is of high quality and respects you as an individual with your personal values and beliefs.
  2. Will include you in planning your care and treatment, providing a clear understanding of all options in order for you to make informed decisions.
  3. Will respect your personal privacy and treat all information as confidential.
  4. Will provide access to interpretation or reader services as needed to fulfill our commitment to you.
  5. Will provide you on discharge with all information and resources as available to meet your on-going care needs.
  6. Will provide you with a grievance procedure if you feel you have not received optimum care.
  7. Will respond quickly to reports of pain.

In addition, you have the following rights:

  1. To be informed of your health status.
  2. To request medically appropriate or necessary treatment or refuse treatment.
  3. To formulate advance directives and to have Magee employees and practitioners comply with these directives.
  4. If you request, to have a family member or representative of your choice and your own physician be notified promptly of your admission to hospital services.
  5. To receive care in a safe setting, and be free of all forms of abuse or harassment.
  6. To access information contained in your medical record at any time during your stay in collaboration with your case manager and physician.
  7. As per our restraint policy, to be free from restraints of any form that is not medically necessary or is used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff.
  8. To appropriate assessment and management of pain.
  9. To expect good management techniques to be implemented within the hospital so that you are able to avoid personal discomfort and so that your time is used effectively.

Magee Rehabilitation expects that you, as a patient, will comply with the following responsibilities. Failure to comply with responsibilities 1 – 9 may result in your discharge from further services.

  1. Follow all hospital rules and regulations.
  2. Treat all staff, other patients and visitors, equipment and the facility with respect. Any incident of either physical or verbal abuse toward an individual, destructive behavior to personal property or the building, or possession of a lethal weapon may result in your discharge from further services.
  3. Refrain from the use, possession or distribution of alcohol, tobacco products, e-cigarettes or illegal drugs while on the premises.
  4. Provide information about your health and ask questions about your health and care, including pain management. Participate in the planning of your care and follow treatment recommendations. If you do not follow treatment recommendations, you are responsible for accepting the consequences.
  5. Participate with the staff and the physician in planning toward your discharge from services on the date decided by the physician.
  6. Attend therapy sessions on the days and times they are scheduled. We understand that, at certain times, your control of punctuality may be limited (as with transportation services, if an outpatient) and we will try to accommodate.
  7. Do not leave the building unattended by an authorized Magee employee.
  8. If you are an outpatient, we ask that you please cancel appointments as per location policy. If you miss three appointments without notification to us, your therapy will be canceled and a discharge summary sent to you and your physician.
  9. Take full responsibility for any personal property you have with you in the hospital or outpatient facility. Magee Rehabilitation is not responsible for replacing or providing reimbursement for lost, stolen or damaged personal items.

We believe that the above guidelines offer you the greatest opportunity to benefit from our services. A complete copy of the Patient’s Bill of Rights is posted in the Hospital lobby and at all outpatient locations. It is also in the Patient Guide, given to each patient at admission.

Please speak to your attending physician, case manager, therapist, or nurse if you have any questions or comments about your care. It is our intention to resolve any grievance or complaint in a timely manner. If you have a concern that has not been resolved to your satisfaction at that level, please contact a member of Magee’s administrative team, including the Compliance Officer at 833-ONE-CODE (866-663-2633) or Patient Safety Officer at 215-587-3333. If the concern is not resolved through the hospital, you may contact the Pennsylvania Department of Health via their toll free complaint hotline for consumers at 1-877-PA HEALTH. You may also contact The Joint Commission’s Office of Quality Monitoring by calling 1-800-994-6610 or e-mailing complaint@jointcommission.org or Quality Insights of PA at 1-877-346-6180.

Patient’s Bill of Rights

Magee Rehabilitation supports the rights of each patient by establishing policies, procedures, mechanisms and processes to support the following patient rights. Please see also the Notice of Privacy Practices given at time of admission.

1. Access to Care

1.1 The patient has a right to reasonable access to care in a safe setting. Magee Rehabilitation will provide good, quality care and high professional standards that are continually maintained and reviewed. The Hospital will provide medical and nursing services without discrimination based upon race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or source of payment.

1.2 The patient has the right to accept medical care, request medically appropriate and necessary care, or refuse treatment, including medication, to the extent permitted by law, and to be informed of the medical consequences of such refusal.

1.3 Emergency medical procedures shall be implemented without unnecessary delay.

1.4 When medically permissible, the patient will be transferred to another facility only after the patient or patient’s next-of-kin or other legally responsible representative has received complete information and an explanation concerning the needs for and alternatives to such a transfer.

1.5 Magee Rehabilitation will assist in obtaining consultation with another physician at the patient’s request and own expense.

1.6 The patient will know what Hospital rules and regulations apply to the patient’s conduct as a patient.

1.7 The patient has the right to appropriate assessment and management of pain.

2. Respect for the Patient as an Individual

2.1 The patient has the right to considerate and respectful care given by competent personnel that respect the patient’s personal values and belief systems. This care includes consideration of the psychosocial, spiritual and cultural variables that influence the perception of illness.

2.2 The patient has the right to personal privacy. Magee Rehabilitation will give every consideration to the patient’s privacy concerning the patient’s own medical care program. Case discussion, consultation, examination, and treatment are considered confidential and shall be conducted discreetly.

2.3 Magee Rehabilitation will protect the confidentiality of patient information to the extent of state and federal law.

2.4 The patient can have Magee Rehabilitation provide to the patient, upon request, access to all information contained in the patient’s medical records in a reasonable time frame, unless access is specifically restricted by the attending physician for medical reasons or is prohibited by law.

2.5 The patient has the right to be free of all forms of abuse or harassment and the right to be free from restraints of any form that are not medically necessary or are used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff.

2.6 When necessary, Magee Rehabilitation will provide care for the dying patient that optimizes the comfort and dignity of the patient.

2.7 The patient has the right to request to have a family member or representative and personal physician notified promptly of his or her admission to the hospital.

2.8 The patient will have access to an interpreter or the language line if he/she does not speak or understand English.

2.9 The patient can expect access to an individual or agency that is authorized to act on the patient’s behalf to assert or protect the rights set out in this section. This person shall not be employed by the Hospital.

2.10 The patient will be informed of the patient’s rights at the time of admission.

3. Inclusion of the Patient in Decisions Regarding Care

3.1 In collaboration with his or her physician, the patient has the right to informed participation in decisions regarding his or her care, including pain management.

3.2 The patient has the right to be provided with the information necessary to enable him or her to make treatment decisions that reflect his or her wishes and to be informed of his or her health status. The patient may refuse any drugs, treatment, or procedure offered by Magee Rehabilitation to the extent permitted by law, and a physician shall inform the patient of the medical consequences of the patient’s refusal of any drugs, treatment or procedure. Magee Rehabilitation will provide full information in layman’s terms concerning the patient’s diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, including information about alternative treatments and possible complications. When it is not medically advisable to give such information to the patient, the information shall be given on the patient’s behalf to the patient’s next-of-kin or other appropriate persons.

3.3 The patient has the right to formulate advance directives, to appoint a surrogate to make health care decisions on his or her behalf to the extent permitted by law and to have Magee staff and practitioners comply with these directives. The provision of care is not conditioned on the existence of an advance directive.

3.4 Magee Rehabilitation has processes in place for reaching decisions about and documenting the withholding of resuscitative services from individual patients or the foregoing or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.

3.4. The patient has the right to participate in the consideration of ethical issues that arise in the provision of his or her care.

3.5 The Hospitals policies and procedures describe the mechanism(s) for resolving conflicts in decision-making, should they arise.

3.6 The patient, upon request, will be given the names of the patient’s attending physician, the name of all other physicians directly participating in the patient’s care, and the names and functions of other health care persons having direct contact with the patient.

3.7 Except for emergencies, the Hospital will have the physician obtain the necessary informed consent prior to the start of any procedure or treatment, or both. If in the event the patient is unable to give informed consent, a legally responsible party has the right to be advised when a physician is considering the patient as part of a medical care research program or donor program. The patient or legally responsible party must have given informed consent prior to actual participation in such a program. A patient or legally responsible party may, at any time, refuse to continue in any such program to which the patient has previously given informed consent.

3.8 The patient is entitled to examine and review a detailed explanation of the patient’s bill. The patient will be given full information and counseling on the availability of known financial resources for the patient’s health care.

3.9 The patient can expect to be informed upon discharge of the patient’s continuing health care requirements following discharge and the means for meeting them.

4. Patient Visitation Rights

4.1 Each patient (or representative, where appropriate) has the right, subject to his or her consent, to receive visitors who he or she designates, including but not limited to a spouse, a domestic partner (including same-sex domestic partner), another family member, or a friend, and the right to withdraw or deny such consent at any time.

4.2 The hospital shall not restrict, limit, or otherwise deny visitation on the basis of age, race, color, ethnicity, culture, language, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, socioeconomic status, physical or mental disability. The hospital may restrict a visitor if the individual’s presence infringes on other’s rights, safety, or is medically or therapeutically contraindicated.

4.3 Hospital personnel shall ensure that all visitors designated by the patient (or representative, where appropriate) enjoy visitation privileges that are no more restrictive than those that immediate family members would enjoy.

The above Patient Bill of Rights, as revised, was adopted by the Magee Rehabilitation Board of Trustees on the 14th day of March 2001.

If a patient is of the opinion that the patient’s rights have not been implemented by the hospital, the patient should notify the chairman of the Board of Trustees whose name can be obtained by calling administration at 215-587-3146, and/or notify the Pennsylvania Department of Health by calling 1-877-PA-Health.

Advanced Directives and POLST

In Pennsylvania, any competent adult may execute an advance directive, directing the withholding or withdrawal of his or her medical care. A competent adult is an individual who is able to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of a decision to accept or refuse treatment.

POLST stands for the “Pennsylvania Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment.” Patients can indicate their wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment by completing POLST forms with their physician. Patients who do not wish to be resuscitated or who want only a limited response in the event that they become pulseless or breathless should complete this form. Once a form is complete, caregivers should honor their wishes in the event that they become pulseless or breathless. The POLST forms give our patients a chance to have their wishes honored once they leave Magee. This was not the case in the past. Now, if a patient goes out for an appointment or gets transferred to another facility, their wishes should go with them and should be honored.

If you have an advanced directive, or would like to put one in place, please alert your nurse or physician.