Residents’ rights – Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3721.13

“Residents’ rights”

Each resident of a skilled nursing facility has the following rights:

·         General living rights such as changing clothes and bed sheets as needed, to participate in decisions that affect resident’s life, such as communication with physicians and employees, to keep their own schedule, to observe religious activities, have private visits and receive or send mail and phone calls.

• To a safe and clean living environment and to be free from physical, verbal, mental and emotional abuse
• To receive adequate and appropriate care and services, provided without regard to considerations of race, color, religion, national origin, age, or source of payment for care;
• To obtain from the home, upon request, the name and any specialty of any physician or other person responsible for the resident’s care or for the coordination of care;
• To be assigned, upon request, to the staff physician of the resident’s choice;
• To select as the attending physician a physician who is not on the staff of the facility;
• To communicate with the physician and employees of the facility in planning the resident’s treatment or care;
• To obtain from the attending physician complete and current information concerning medical condition, prognosis, and treatment plans;
• To have privacy through closed doors and during medical examinations;
• To access all information in the resident’s medical record;
• To give or withhold informed consent for treatment after the consequences of that choice have been carefully explained;
• To be free from physical or chemical restraints or prolonged isolation, except to the minimum amount necessary to protect the resident from injury to self, others, or to property;
• To confidential treatment of personal and medical records;
• To approve or refuse the release of personal or medical records to any individual outside the facility, except in case of transfer to another home, hospital, or health care system, as required by law or rule, or as required by a third-party payment contract; and
• To refuse to serve as a medical research subject.
• To not be transferred or discharged from the home unless certain conditions have been met.
  • Example: the resident’s health has improved sufficiently, the safety of individuals in the home is endangered, the resident’s application has been denied, the home’s license has been revoked, etc.  For the full list, look to (30)(a) through (30)(h) located here.