The focus and starting point of all objectives in guaranteeing patient and citizen rights is the involvement of patients (the insured) and citizens in communication and decision-making processes at the level of individual relations and structural (system) conditions in health care. Health care systems can be financed through insurance (e.g. in Germany, the Netherlands and France) or taxes (e.g. in the UK). The question of involvement arises in all systems. In the individual relationship (doctor/nurse-patient) the model for involvement is shared decision-making; involvement of citizens at the level of the health care system means to be heard, to give advice and/or to co-determine. We refer to participation in this context. Rights guarantee involvement. Patient and citizen rights relate to dignity (nondiscrimination, confidentiality, respect of personality), information about and quality of health services and products, and access to both.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.