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Respect and Confidentiality - In all Health Services
Equal Access and Treatment - For Tribal People
Education and Empowerment - Patients taking an active role in their own healthcare
Alternative Choices - Traditions and Ancestral Rights
Tribal Knowledge - Tribal ceremonies, foods, and remedies
Safe Environment - For patients and staff
Sovereign Rights - Self-governance and self-determination
Assurances:
All our clinics on Public Domain Lands are State Licensed Facilities. The State does not impose this requirement on Tribal Lands. However, all our clinics are Medical and Medicare certified, and is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, which means we are in compliance with national and state standards.
Patient Visits:
Patients may visit our clinics many times throughout the year, but they are only registered once. Last year we provided services to 8,654 registered patients.
Services:
We provide medical, dental, and podiatry services, as well as limited laboratory, pharmacy, and Women’s Clinics.
Referrals:
We refer our patients for x-ray, complex laboratory, and other pharmaceutical services not provided on site, and to specialists for consultative and specialized care.
Collaboration:
The staff at the Karuk Tribal Health Program collaborates with staff of other Karuk Tribal Programs, such as Indian Child Welfare, Head Start, Child Care, Natural Resources, and Enrollment.
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Clinic transportation services are available at each clinic location for Native Americans, who are traveling into our clinics for an appointment, or traveling to a specialist as a referral from our clinic provider.
If you are in need of transportation services please contact the clinic receptionist in your area to schedule an appointment. Please keep in mind that these services are limited to one transporter per clinic, and another patient may already be scheduled in the time slot you need. Only in emergency situations, will we cancel already scheduled patients.
It is best to allow our staff to set up your appointments, because they can schedule your appointment when the transporter is available, and will schedule you in for transportation services at that time. However, you need to let the receptionist know you need transportation or you will be scheduled for an appointment without transportation services.
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The Karuk Tribal Health Program has established this statement of organizational ethics in recognition of the program’s responsibility to our patients, staff, providers and the community we serve.
It is the responsibility of every member of the Karuk Tribal Health Board, administration, medical staff, and other staff to act in a manner that is consistent with this organizational statement and supporting policies. Our behavior will be guided by the following principles.
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All patients, employees and visitors deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and courtesy.
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We will provide services to meet the identified needs of our patients and will avoid providing services that are unnecessary or ineffective.
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We will adhere to a uniform standard of care throughout the organization.
The organization will constantly strive to adhere to and expand on these principles.
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In all patient care settings, we shall follow well-designed standards of care based upon the needs of the patient.
We will serve only those patients for whom we can safely care within our organization. Even as we strive to provide care in a manner economical to patients and providers, we will provide care that meets our established standards of quality.
We will not turn away patients who are in need of our services based on their ability to pay or based upon any other factor that is substantially unrelated to patient care.
We will provide care appropriate to the patient’s needs and of consistent quality in all Tribal clinics.
Marketing:
We will fairly and accurately represent our capabilities and ourselves.
Respect for the Patient:
We will treat patients with dignity, respect and courtesy. To the extent practical and possible, patients (or their significant others) will be involved in decisions regarding the care that we deliver.
We will inform patients about the therapeutic alternatives and risks associated with the care they are offered. We will continually seek to understand and respect their objectives for care. Patients have a right to be informed of the price of care that they are about to receive.
In all circumstances, we will attempt to treat patients in a manner appropriate to their background, culture, religion and heritage.
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Resolution of Conflicts in Patient Care Decisions:
We recognize that from time to time, conflicts will arise among those who participate in clinic and patient care decisions.
Whether this conflict is between administrative staff, employees, the Karuk Tribal Health Board, or between patient caregivers and the patient, we will seek to resolve all conflicts fairly and objectively.
In cases where mutual satisfaction cannot be achieved, an appeal to the Karuk Tribal Health Board may be made for a final decision.
Recognition of Potential Conflicts of Interest:
We are aware that the potential for conflict of interest exists for decision-makers. It is our policy to request the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest so that appropriate action may be taken to ensure that such conflicts do not inappropriately influence important decisions.
Each year, members of the Karuk Tribal Health Board are required to sign Conflict of Interest Statements to assure that Board decisions are made in the best interest of the organization and the individuals served, and to disclose potential conflicts related to decisions that arise during the course of the year.
Physicians and other staff members are encouraged to disclose financial conflicts of interest.
The Karuk Tribal Health Program discloses that they negotiate preferred provider agreements with referral service providers to obtain cost-effective Contract Health Services (CHS) and that no financial compensation is involved.
Fair Billing Practices:
The Karuk Tribal Health Program will bill patients or third parties only for services and care provided to patients and will provide assistance to patients seeking to understand the cost of their care.
We will attempt to resolve questions and objections to the satisfaction of the patient while considering the organization’s best interests as well.
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Policy:
It is the policy of the Karuk Tribal Health Program while administering health services to protect and preserve the inherent right of all American Indians to exercise their traditional spirituality.
The Health Program recognizes the value and effectiveness of traditional beliefs, ceremonies and practices in healing the body, mind and spirit. Faith most often is an integral part of the healing process and provides support for purposeful living. It therefore is our policy to encourage a climate of respect, acceptance and active support for traditional beliefs and practices.
Confidentiality:
The organization recognizes the extreme need to maintain patient and other information in a confidential manner. Patient information is not shared in any unauthorized manner. Sensitive information concerning personnel and management issues is maintained in the strictest confidence for use only by those individuals authorized to review and act upon such information.
Integrity:
Clinical decision making is based on patient need without regard to the organization’s ability to pay.
Our commitment is to act with integrity to meet each patient’s needs.
The Karuk Tribal Health Program shall abide by the principle to treat employees, patients, physicians and others we serve with utmost respect.
Purpose:
To provide guidance on the inclusion and support of traditional Tribal health principles and practices within the Karuk Tribal Health system and the communities we serve.
Procedure
- The Health Program staff have been instructed to inform patients they have the freedom to practice traditional religion when desired by the individual or family (in cases of a minor), or when the patient’s condition is such they cannot make a request.
- When a patient (guardian/family member) requests assistance in obtaining the services of a native healer, every effort will be made to comply. Such efforts might include contacting a traditional “doctor,” providing space or privacy within the facility for a ceremony, and/or authorization to utilize health program funds to offset the expenses associated with a traditional healer.
- Since a person’s native spiritual beliefs often are very personal, the patient’s right to privacy must be respected in these matters. No Health Program employee will initiate unnecessary questions or interfere in a patient’s private beliefs or practices. This is a right that must be respected.
- The Karuk Tribal Health Program specifically recognizes that “health” from a traditional perspective has several layers or components, including the health of the community, the family and the individual. The various Karuk ceremonies are integral and inseparable from this “health” of the local community, family and ultimately the individual. Therefore, it shall be our practice to support local Tribal ceremonies, including but not limited to the Jump Dance, Pikyaavish, Brush Dance and other ceremonies related to world renewal, balance and individual health.
- Within this policy, Health Program staff must continue to be aware of, sensitive to, and respectful of, traditional beliefs and practices of the American Indians we serve. Procedures that might tend to interfere with, dilute, or modify these beliefs and practices must be avoided. Care must be exercised so that Health Program support does not create dependence or wrest control from the recognized and honored healers, dance leaders and other traditional practitioners.
Our goal is that there be respect and complementary interface between the modern and traditional systems of medicine and religion. Care must be taken that Health Program support does not become a means of destroying or altering a system of healing that has both a long history and contemporary relevance.
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