Client Bill of Rights

We are committed to caring for your loved ones the way you do – with patience, compassion, respect, and love. We want your loved one to feel comfortable, safe, and secure in their own home and with the person providing home care. Each client of Timberland Home Care has rights that help ensure they receive home care from the heart that truly meets their needs. Please review our Client Bill of Rights and let us know if you have any questions regarding these rights.

Before Home Care Begins, You Have the Right to:

  • Be fully informed of your rights and responsibilities before home care services begin.
  • Choose your home care caregiver.
  • Be informed about the proposed care plan, who will provide care, and any other choices available for your home care services; you also have the right to be informed of the consequences of these choices, including the consequences of refusing the proposed home care services.
  • Know of any limits to the services available from Timberland Home Care, and our grounds for terminating services.
  • Know whether home care services are covered by health insurance, medical assistance, Medicare, or other health programs.
  • Know which charges will not be covered by Medicare, health insurance, medical assistance, Medicare, or other health programs; you will be responsible for paying for these charges directly.
  • Know that there may be other services available in the community, including other home care providers; you also have the right to know where to go for information about these services and providers.
  • Choose freely among available providers and to change providers after services have begun, within limits of health insurance, medical assistance, or other health programs.

During Home Care, You Have the Right to:

  • Receive home care services that follow a current care plan.
  • Take an active role, subject to accepted medical and nursing standards, in creating and changing your home care plan and evaluating your home care and home care services.
  • Be told of, and take an active role in, any changes to your home care plan before the changes are made; you also have the right to refuse any home care services
  • Be informed about all charges for services, no matter who will be paying the bill.
  • Have personal, financial, and medical information kept private, and to be advised of the provider’s policies and procedures regarding disclosure of such information.
  • Be given access to records and written information from records in accordance with section 144.335.
  • Be served by people who are properly trained and competent to perform their duties.
  • Treated with courtesy and respect, and to have the patient’s property treated with respect.
  • Be free from physical and verbal abuse.
  • Reasonable notice of proposed changes in services or charges, including at least 7 days’ notice of the termination of a service by a provider, except in cases where:
  • The recipient of services engages in conduct that alters the conditions of employment as specified in the employment contract between the home care provider and the individual providing home care services, or creates an abusive or unsafe work environment for the individual providing home care services; or
  • An emergency for the informal caregiver or a significant change in the recipient’s condition has resulted in service needs that exceed the current service provider agreement and that cannot be safely met by the home care provider.
  • A coordinated transfer when there will be a change in the provider of services.
  • Voice grievances regarding treatment or care that is, or fails to be, furnished, or regarding the lack of courtesy or respect to the patient or the patient’s property.
  • Know how to contact an individual associated with the provider who is responsible for handling problems and to have the provider investigate and attempt to resolve the grievance or complaint.
  • Know the name and address of the state or county agency to contact for additional information or assistance.
  • Assert these rights personally, or have them asserted by the patient’s family or guardian when the patient has been judged incompetent, without retaliation.