Patient Roles & Responsibilities
How Patients Make the Difference in Healthcare
We at Baptist Beaumont Hospital strive to provide quality patient care. This is a team effort, and you are a primary member of our team. Please keep the following information in mind while you are here and following your discharge from our facility. Help us to help you.
As an integral part of the healthcare team, patients will be educated about their role and responsibility in preventing medical errors.
This education will include:
- The patient and/family is responsible for providing, to the best of their knowledge, accurate and complete information about present complaints, past illnesses, hospitalizations, medications, and other matters relating to the patient's health
- The patient and/or family is responsible to report perceived risks in their care and unexpected changes in the patient's condition to the responsible practitioner
- The patient and/or family is responsible for asking questions when they do not understand what they have been told about the patient's care or what they are expected to do
Ask Questions
Speak up if you have concerns. It's okay to ask questions and to expect answers you can understand. Patients have rights and responsibilities when hospitalized, so it’s important that you take the time to learn what these are. Choose a doctor with whom you feel comfortable talking about your health and treatment. If it helps, bring a relative or friend along with you to help you ask questions and understand the answers.
Medications
It is important that you alert Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas of all medications you are taking.
In order to help with reporting this information, you should:
- Keep a list of all medicines you are currently taking. Include any allergies you may have
- Tell your doctor, nurse or pharmacist about all the medicines you take, including over-the-counter medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen, vitamins, herbals, or any other supplements
- Tell your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist about any drug allergies you have
- Ask your pharmacist about side effects and what foods or other things to avoid while taking your medications
- Read the labels, including warnings. Make sure it is the medication your doctor ordered and you know how to use it
- If the medication looks different than you expected, ask the nurse or pharmacist about it
If You Need Surgery
Make sure you understand what will happen if you need surgery. Your, your doctor, and the surgeon should all agree on exactly what will be done during the operation. Tell the surgeon, anesthesiologist and nurses if you have allergies or ever had a bad reaction to anesthesia.
Make sure to ask the doctor and/or surgeon:
- Who will take charge of my care while I'm in the hospital?
- Exactly what will you be doing?
- How long will it take?
- What will happen after the surgery?
- How can I expect to feel during recovery?
HealthStream Customer Satisfaction Survey
After discharge, the HealthStream Company randomly selects a percentage of our patients to receive a telephone survey regarding their visit to our hospital. Please take a few moments of your time to speak with a HealthStream representative. It is very important to us that your needs were met while you were a patient at our facility. Thank you for taking the time to let us know how we provided care during your visit.
Please see below to view the Patient Rights and Responsibilities.
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Click here for English - Section 1557 - ACA 2010 - Discrimination Policy Notice
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