Table 1 Patient rights in Israeli Legislation and JCI standard
From: Promoting patients’ rights through hospital accreditation
JCI | National Health Insurance Act | Patient Rights Act | Dying Patient Act | Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law | Organ Transplant Act | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Right to Receive Medical Care | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | ||||
Right to Privacy | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \)* | *In ERPDL, the right to privacy is protected in all aspects of one’s life, including in receiving medical care, but not only or specifically in the medical context | ||
Right to Medical Confidentiality | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | |
Right to Give Consent | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | General consent to receive medical care | |
Right to Give Informed Consent | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | Informed consent to receive specific medical treatment | |||
Right to Refuse Treatment | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \)* | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \)* | \( \underline {\mathrm{X}} \) | *In PRA and NHIA the right to refuse treatment is not mentioned, but it is implied from the right to give consent | ||
Proprietary Right Pertaining to the Medical Care (Protection of Patients’ Possession) | X | Israeli law does not address this issue at all, it constitutes a gap found by comparing legislation and JCI. | |||||
Right to Culture and Language accommodations | X | X* | X** | * In ERPDL, accommodation for sign language is addressed ** In OTA, cultural and religious background of the living donor is relevant to determining the members of the donation board. Generally – cultural and language accommodations are the subject of a circular issued by the general manager of the Ministry of Health no. 7/11, 2011 | |||
Patients’ Complaints Apparatus | X | X | X | X* | * In ERPDL, complaints regarding discrimination in healthcare | ||
Right to Receive Information | X | X | X | X | |||
Right to Equality and Anti-Discrimination in Healthcare | X | X | X* | ** In ERPDL, regarding persons with disability | |||
Formation of Ethics Committees | X | X* | X** | * In DPA, committees with similar functions (local or national committee) ** In ODA, similar function called “evaluation committee” | |||
Respect of Patient’s Religion | X | X* | ** | * In DPA, “This law is based on the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and on fundamental principles in the fields of morality, ethics and religion.” ** In ODA, religious background is relevant in choosing members of the evaluation committee | |||
Right to Seek a Second Opinion | * | X | * JCI standards refer to patients’ rights within the setting of a specific hospital and not to general rights in the healthcare system | ||||
Patients’ Families’ rights | X* | X** | X*** | * In the JCI standards, families’ rights are mentioned with regard to receiving medical information, quality and standard of care, organ donation, and complaints apparatus. | |||
Right to Be Respected/Human Dignity | X* | X | X | X | * In the JCI, the hospital will respect patients’ values /beliefs. There is no mention of dignity. The right is regarded a general human right in Israeli law. | ||
Right to Be Accompanied During Medical Examination and Treatment | X | X | |||||
Right to Have and Receive the Medical Record | X | X | X | ||||
Right to Access medical Services | X* | X** | * In JCI, including language and cultural barriers ** In ERDL, accessibility of medical facilities and services for all, especially persons with disabilities |