GREENVILLE, S.C. – Citing a need for more transparency, accountability and opportunities in health care across the region, the leadership of Physicians for Act 432 -- An Alliance for Fair Health Care unveiled a Patients’ Bill of Rights today.
In 1973, leaders at the American Hospitals Associations created the first Patient Bill of Rights. This forward-thinking document became the groundwork for numerous other Patient Bills of Rights created and adopted over almost the last half century, said Dr. Bruce Snyder, the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Physicians for Act 432.
The seven points of this Bill of Rights are as follows:
· Give doctors and patients the ability to follow the spirit of Act 432, which essentially created the mandate for stronger healthcare in the greater Greenville area.
· Those include the primacy of the patient-doctor relationship and the autonomy of a doctor’s decision making process; provide the highest quality of medical care possible; create access to care for all; educate the medical workforce; and provide financial accountability/responsibility.
· Enhance the ability of The Greenville Health Authority (GHA) over three of its oversight areas: management of hospitals and facilities; management of the wellbeing and autonomy of the patient-doctor relationship; and academic enhancement.
· Foster the growth of those areas by encouraging more partnerships between the GHA, doctors and patients.
· Create dialogue that can be the beacon for other communities to follow when it comes to strengthening and developing a better community healthcare model.
· The Greenville area needs people from all sides of the healthcare continuum to come together to make this a reality.
· Greenville area residents need healthcare that is able to grow with the needs of the community.
Physicians for Act 432 was started earlier this year to create a stronger healthcare environment by empowering and engaging medical professionals and their patients both inside and outside of the corporate healthcare world, said Dr. Jeff Harris, President of the Group.
The group’s name comes from the 1947 legislation that codified public healthcare needs for Greenville County residents. One of the group’s goals is to get health care to live up to the goals of that law.
“By working together, physicians, patients and community leaders can hold trustees and health systems accountable for fulfilling their obligations to our communities – and not just in the Upstate,” Harris said. “Ours is a message relevant everywhere. This is about what is best for the health of the residents of Greenville, the Upstate and all of South Carolina.”
About Physicians for Act 432:
Physicians for Act 432 – An Alliance for Fair Health Care is non-profit, cross-section of health care providers and community leaders seeking to empowering change to provide the care our communities deserve. To learn more, go to www.physiciansforact432.com.
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