Patient Information

Your Admission to Piedmont McDuffie

We want to thank you for insisting on Piedmont McDuffie, and it is our honor to provide your care.

During the admission process, you were asked to sign an authorization form for medical and/or surgical treatment. This form gives us your permission to perform diagnostic tests and other necessary procedures as prescribed by your physician.

Valuables

Please help us protect your valuables by following these suggestions:

• All jewelry and money, other than small change, should be left at home. The hospital is not responsible for the loss of money or valuables kept in patient rooms. Please do not leave valuables unprotected.
• Remind your visitors not to leave purses or other valuables behind when leaving the room.
• If the patient is unable to leave valuables at home, the hospital has resources to secure them. Please contact your nurse for information.

Personal Items

• Although there are hospital gowns, you may prefer to bring toilet articles such as slippers, bathrobes and other necessities from home.
• The hospital is not responsible for breakage or loss of these items, so be sure to keep them in a safe place in your bedside stand.
• All electronic equipment, hairdryers, etc., will need to be checked by the hospital’s Biomedical Department and approved for use in the hospital.
• Please tell your nurse when you bring an item into the facility.

Health Information Services

• Your medical record begins when you are admitted to the hospital. Data collected includes daily progress notes and orders by your physicians, nurses and allied health professionals.
• Laboratory test results and radiology reports also are incorporated in your medical record during your stay.
• After discharge, your medical record is sent to Health Information Services (Medical Records) to be analyzed for completion and to be confidentially maintained. Information contained in your medical record will only be released upon properly written authorization signed and dated by the patient or the patient’s legal representative. The release availability is subject to completion of the record prior to release. It can take a while after discharge for record completion. You, the patient, own the information in your medical records.

Smoking

Smoking is strictly prohibited in all areas of Piedmont McDuffie, and we ask for your cooperation in keeping with our smoke-free policy and do not smoke in your room

Meals

• Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in your room. A dietitian is available for consultation if you have any questions concerning your meals or special diets that may be prescribed by your physician.
• Patient care staff may, on occasion, request that visitors step out of a room so personal care can be provided. We ask you to cooperate with staff and follow their directions.
• Piedmont McDuffie reserves the right to restrict visitation of both children and adults during outbreaks of contagious diseases, i.e., measles, mumps, flu, etc. Notices of such restrictions will be posted and the local media informed.

Chaplaincy Service

Spiritual support from a hospital chaplain is available during your stay. The chapel is located next to the first-floor waiting area and is open at all times for meditation. [see earlier note] For more information about this service, or if you would like for the hospital to contact your family minister or priest, please ask your nurse or Patient Care Representative.

Use of Patient Room Telephones

• To make an outside local call: Dial 9 + number.
• All long-distance calls must be charged to your home phone, placed collect or charged to a telephone credit card.
• Calls cannot be charged to your room.

Hospital Discharge

• Discharge planning begins on the day of your admission to the hospital.
• Upon notification by your physician that you will be discharged, the nursing staff will give you discharge instructions.

Case Management

• The case manager is a specially trained nurse who is available to provide discharge planning and referrals to any needed outside social agencies.
• The case manager can coordinate home health care and medical equipment, nursing home placement and other community resources.
• Consultation with a case manager may be requested by you and your family, your physician or your nurse.