Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 48 - PUBLIC HEALTH-GENERAL › Part III - Mental Health Services › Chapter 5 - Standards for Community Mental Health › Subchapter A - Centers and Clinics › Section III-531 - Patient Rights

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The clinic
				  shall acknowledge the dignity and protect the rights of all patients and their
				  families.
B. Each patient shall
				  have the right to be served without discrimination as to age, sex, race, creed,
				  color or national origin.
C. The
				  patient and his family shall be encouraged to participate in the plans for
				  treatment. The nature of treatment and any specific risks involved shall be
				  carefully explained, especially when the use of potentially hazardous drugs or
				  somatic procedures is contemplated.
D. Except as required by law, no information,
				  written or verbal, concerning the patient or his/her family shall be released
				  or requested without a dated, signed, and witnessed statement made by the
				  patient (or his agent) authorizing the clinic to do so. The statement of
				  authorization shall indicate by name to whom or from whom information will be
				  transmitted.
E. The rights and
				  privacy of patients shall be safeguarded in regard to center or clinic
				  visitors. Visits by educational or community groups shall be scheduled so as to
				  minimally interrupt the patients' usual activities and therapeutic programs.
				  Patients shall be informed of such visits in advance and cases shall never be
				  discussed by name or within hearing of the patients.
F. Prior to using one-way mirrors, tape
				  recorders, cameras, or audiovisual equipment for assessment, treatment,
				  educational or evaluation purposes, center or clinic staff shall explain their
				  function to the patient and receive his permission. There shall be written
				  policies and procedures governing the use of such equipment to ensure
				  confidentiality and protect the rights of patient against unauthorized
				  disclosure of information.
G. Each
				  request for service by an applicant shall be acknowledged. The applicant shall
				  be notified whether or not service can be rendered and if not, what other
				  resources might be available.
H.
				  Each patient shall have the right to communicate freely with his/ her attorney
				  and private physician and to have his/her case record made available to these
				  individuals upon written request.
I. The following statement of patient rights
				  enumerated in Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, 28:171, shall be adhered to
				  as appropriate.
1. Every patient shall have
				  the following rights regardless of adjudication of incompetency, a list of
				  which shall be prominently posted in all hospitals or other treatment,
				  evaluation and examination facilities. These rights shall also be brought to
				  the attention of patients by such additional means as the Office of Hospitals
				  (or its legal successors) may designate by regulations. Every patient shall
				  have the right:
a. to wear his own clothes;
				  to keep and use his personal possessions, including toilet articles; to keep
				  and be allowed to spend a reasonable sum of his own money for canteen expenses
				  and small purchases; and to have access to individual storage spaces for his
				  private use;
b. to correspond by
				  sealed letter with people outside the hospital and to have access to reasonable
				  amounts of letter writing materials and postage;
c. to be visited at all reasonable
				  times;
d. to be employed at a
				  useful occupation depending upon the patient's condition and available
				  facilities;
e. to sell the products
				  of his personal skill and labor at the discretion of the superintendent and to
				  keep the proceeds thereof or to send them to his family;
f. to be discharged as soon as he has been
				  restored to reason and has become competent to manage his own affairs. The
				  medical director or superintendent of the treatment facility shall have the
				  authority to discharge the patient without the approval of the court which
				  committed him to the treatment facility;
g. to be visited in private by his attorney
				  at all times;
h. to request an
				  informal court hearing to be held within five days of receipt of the request.
				  If the patient does not have an attorney of his own, the court shall appoint an
				  attorney who shall represent the patient at the hearing. The purpose of the
				  hearing shall be to determine whether or not the patient should be discharged
				  from treatment;
i. to apply for a
				  writ of habeas corpus;
j. to be
				  visited and examined at his own expense by a physician designated by him or a
				  member of his family or a near friend. The physician may consult and confer
				  with the medical staff of the treating facility and have the benefit of all
				  information contained in the patient's medical record.