how to have a happy clinic

[isabelle]

i have just transferred to a new hemo clinic. I have been on dialysis over 10 years and have never experienced so much fear and pressure. Only one choice of clinics and doctors for 70 miles..so they operate as they please or THREATEN...any advocacy advice?

[Beth Witten]

Dialysis clinics are required by federal regulation:
-- To inform patients fully of their rights and responsibilities, what services are available at the clinic, their medical condition, whether their clinic reuses any supplies, and their suitability for home dialysis and transplant.
-- To involve patients in planning for care.
-- To treat patients with dignity and respect, recognizing individual needs.
-- To ensure patient confidentiality.
-- To have a grievance policy and inform patients how to use it.

If you believe that your clinic is not living up to these regulations, review the clinic's grievance policy and begin to document problems you observe. You can always talk with the clinic administrator or nurse manager about your concerns but the more specific you can be, the better it is. You might want to ask the social worker to participate in this discussion and talk with him/her first to get feedback on how to present your case. If you feel like your concerns aren't being addressed or that patients are being threatened for speaking out, contact higher ups in your dialysis clinic's governing body and/or your ESRD Network (www.esrdnetworks.org has a map with links to Networks) or your state health department which surveys dialysis clinics to assure that they comply with the federal regulations.

Staff at dialysis clinic should never be allowed to threaten patients just because they are the only "game in town" and those in governing positions over your clinic should want to know if anyone is doing this as it could destroy a clinic's reputation.