THE LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM provides long-term care consumers with information about their rights and advocacy to exercise their rights. The program is housed at the state level under The Ohio Department of Aging and is locally sponsored by Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE). Resident rights can be found in both federal and state laws.
Certified Ombudsman staff and volunteers make visits to residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities informing residents of their rights and providing advocacy to exercise their rights when needed. Certain adult group home residents, home care consumers, hospice consumers, and MyCare consumers, are also eligible to receive services. Services are provided free of charge.
Last month, we focused on resident rights from one through eight. Continuing with the rights nine through 18: (9) The right to withhold payment for physician visitation if the physician did not visit the resident; (10) The right to confidential treatment of personal and medical records, and the right to approve or refuse the release of these records to any individual outside the home, 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; (11) The right to privacy during medical examination or treatment and in the care of personal or bodily needs; (12) The right to refuse, without jeopardizing access to appropriate medical care, to serve as a medical research subject; (13) The right to be free from physical or chemical restraints or prolonged isolation except to the minimum extent necessary to protect the resident from injury to self, others, or to property and except as authorized in writing by the attending physician for a specified and limited period of time and documented in the resident’s medical record.
Prior to authorizing the use of a physical or chemical restraint on any resident, the attending physician shall make a personal examination of the resident and an individualized determination of the need to use the restraint on that resident.
(14) The right to the pharmacist of the resident’s choice and the right to receive pharmaceutical supplies and services at reasonable prices not exceeding applicable and normally accepted prices for comparably packaged pharmaceutical supplies and services within the community; (15) The right to exercise all civil rights, unless the resident has been adjudicated incompetent pursuant to Chapter 2111. of the Revised Code and has not been restored to legal capacity, as well as the right to the cooperation of the home's administrator in making arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote; (16) The right of access to opportunities that enable the resident, at the resident’s own expense or at the expense of a third-party payer, to achieve the resident’s fullest potential, including educational, vocational, social, recreational, and habilitation programs; (17) The right to consume a reasonable number of alcoholic beverages at the resident's own expense, unless not medically advisable as documented in the resident's medical record by the attending physician or unless contradictory to written admission policies;
n (18) The right to use tobacco at the resident's own expense under the home’s safety rules and under applicable laws and rules of the state, unless not medically advisable as documented in the resident's medical record by the attending physician or unless contradictory to written admission policies.
A detailed list of long-term care resident rights is found in the Ohio Revised Code section 3721.13.
Next month, we will finish listing all the rights listed in the code. Expect excellence!
For more information about the Long-Term Care Ombudsman volunteer program, receive advocacy services, or to discuss your or a loved one’s rights, call our confidential intake line at 419-2592891.
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