The surgical oncology patient: provider obligations and legal rights

The regulation of health care grows more complex and dynamic with each new law and policy implemented to create a general standard of care on which all patients can expect and rely. Most of these new laws and policies, however, are extensions of the following three basic tenants: the duty to treat, the consent to treatment, and the confidentiality of medical information. As these tenets evolve, they afford individuals certain rights before, during, and after they attain the status of patient.