Patient's Right to Information

[Guest guest]

Dear Members:

Topic of this discussion is "What does Right to Information mean to the patients?". Therefore this discussion deals with Right to Information and related patient rights in general, not just RTI ACT in particular, even though special emphasis is laid on RTI ACT, 2005 while deliberating on the said issues.

Patients have a right to information regarding:

Necessity of treatment

Alternative modalities of treatment

Risks of pursuing the treatment, including inherent complications of drugs, investigations, procedure, surgery etc

Regarding duration of treatment

Regarding prognosis without any attempt to exaggerate or minimize the gravity of patient's condition

Regarding expenses and break-up thereof

Benefits of Patient information: An informed and educated patient can:

Participate in his or her own treatment and help in decision making

Help identify medication errors before they occur

Show enhanced compliance with the prescribed therapy and improved therapeutic outcomes

Help patients promote recovery, improve function and reduce their length of stay in the hospital

Improve quality of care, patient satisfaction and effective use of resources

Facilitate patients' and families' understandings of their health status, options, and consequences of care

Increase patients' potential to follow a health care plan

Decrease treatment complications

Keep Posting

Dr Geer M Ishaq