Guidelines To Patient Rights & Responsibilities
We value each and every of our visitors. Did you know that as a valuable customer and a patient you have a number of responsibilities and rights when you are dealing with our pharmacy? We are publishing an extensive list of patient’s rights and responsibilities to make our customers aware of these in order to be more confident and thoughtful when shopping or receiving services. Regardless if you are a regular receiving chronic medications from us, or just fetching a needful urgent pill when you find you or the member of your family has fallen sick, or the one who are using the pharmacy’s services, like blood pressure measures, cholesterol level tests, or taking a flu test, — you will benefit from learning these rights and responsibilities and becoming more aware.
Patient’s Responsibilities
As a patient it is your personal responsibility to adhere to following:
- Please use your medication exactly as it was prescribed by the professional pharmacist. If you follow the recommendations on dosages, time of administering, etc., you will surely receive the positive result of your treatment in a timely manner;
- Please do not under any circumstances share a medication you were prescribed to or purchased through our pharmacy with your family members, friends, or strangers. It might cause harmful consequences for health of those you shared medications with;
- If a medication has expired, never take it anymore. Make sure the medication is destroyed after its expiration date. The expiration date is found on the package of any medication. If you have trouble locating the expiration date of the medication you are using, contact your health professional immediately;
- Make sure to learn as much as you might need from a pharmacists who are serving you. Do it in the process or right after you purchased the medication, before leaving the pharmacy. The more you know about what you are about to administer, the better your health would be;
- Please store your medications correctly as advised by the pharmacists and make sure they are safely stocked out of the reach of little children;
- Please always be respectful and trustful to your pharmacist’s or his/her assistant’s knowledge and advise — they know their trade and will always provide you with the correct information on your medical condition and measures it will take to battle with it;
- Please consume your medication in a responsible way and refrain from abusing it in any way, such as taking more dosages than prescribed, mixing medications with their counter-indicators, consuming alcohol while taking medications, etc.;
- Please take time to get to know your pharmacy and the list of services it offers, — you are a patient in the first place, not a commercial client;
- Please always inform a pharmacist you are dealing with on all other medications you are currently taking for any medical conditions, even those seemingly unrelated to the one you are buying medications for. Also make sure to mention all allergies you might suffer from;
- Please follow the adherence policy at all times. That is, adhere strictly to your treatment or rehabilitation routines, exactly as prescribed by the medical professional;
- Make sure to inquire on the related costs of the medications and pharmacy services and make sure that these are paid duly;
- Please keep all your health records/ medical history in your possession safely and at all times;
- Please be responsible for costs associated with your care that are not covered by any existing state insurance program or other program you are currently befitting from;
- Please inform in a timely manner, should any of the prescribed medications and treatments require cancellation for any reason;
- Please actively assist your Pharmacy in developing optimal plan of your healthcare;
- Please discuss with your pharmacist anything you would need to know about your medication if you have the slightest concern on anything related to taking, administering, mixing of the medication.
Remember, that a pharmacist is there to answer all your questions and concerns regarding your medications, health plans and options, as well as for giving you lifestyle advises and other health services. You, as a patient, is ultimately responsible for quality of the healthcare you will receive.
Patient’s Rights
Please be aware, that as a patient you are not just receiving the right medication and healthcare services. You have a number of rights as a patient and you should always remember these.
As a patient, you have the right:
- You have the right to always receive services provided by pharmacies of a high standard and quality;
- You have the right to personalized, professionally conducted service from your medical specialist, regardless of your gender, age, race, ethnicity, religious views or methods of payment;
- You have the right to strict confidentiality of any personal information you should share with your pharmacist through the course of your interaction;
- You have the right to complete privacy and conversation with your pharmacist in the environment free of any audio recording devices and video surveillance hardware;
- You have the right to ask questions pertaining to the reason you visited the healthcare provider;
- You have the right to freely inquire on and discuss the price of pharmacy services offered by the pharmacy with your pharmacist or any other healthcare specialist;
- You have the right to receive pharmacy services in a well-lit and well-ventilated, free of odor, clean and professionally organized environment;
- You have the right to expect that, in the course of your interaction with your pharmacist he or she might opt for cooperating with other colleagues- practitioners who might have a needful judgment on your specific case;
- You have the right to have full access to pharmacy services of your choice at all times;
- You have the right to submit a formal complaint on pharmacy services of you might consider to be of poor quality;
- You have the right to expect every medication prescribed to treat your condition to be accessible when required or within the reasonable amount of time;
- You have the right to discuss with your medical professional your health in general, your specific condition, and the future use of medications;
- You have the right to have a prescription on or actual quality medications as advised by a health provider, for the condition these were designed to treat;
- You have the right to receive clearly put recommendations from your pharmacist/ medical professional on safe use of your medication and precautions/ counter indications/ adverse effects of using the medication;
- You have the right to receive monitoring of your treatment from your pharmacist/ medical professional and subsequent evaluation as to how the treatment is going;
- You have the right to decline participation, revoke your consent, or disengage at any point of time.
All pharmacists as well as assistant pharmacists employed by our Pharmacy are to adhere to promotion of public health care. Should you notice or experience un-ethical or un-professional conduct on the part of any employees in our Pharmacy, please report immediately and anonymously to the management of the Pharmacy.
Other Expectations Pertaining to Your Rights
As our patient you have the right also to the following:
- To obtain listing your rights and responsibilities and to sign these prior to receiving any medical services;
- For choosing providers of your own preference;
- To get the contact information on how and whom to contact in the case of emergency;
- Assisting in finding a solution pertaining to your medical treatment;
- Be informed for any following health care needs that might arise by the end of your current treatment;
- Frankly state complaint and suggest changes in your current pharmacy service without a compromise to your care or causing any undesired consequences;
- If allowed by law, allow your loved ones to take care of you and be near you during the treatment;
- Be free of coercion, seclusion, restraint in any form.
Be informed that in the event that our Pharmacy would not be able for any reason to provide you with the service needed for your specific treatment, you can be offered services of another healthcare provider.