Health Program Clinic Information

Clinic information

General information regarding the policy and practices of the Karuk Tribal Health and Human Services Program.
Including: Outreach & Transportation, The Code of Ethical Behavior, Conflicts & Resolutions, Admissions & Referrals, and Policies & Procedures.

Basic Values of the Karuk Tribal Health and Human Services Program

We value:

The right and need of our clients to private, respectful, and confidential health service.
The right of Tribal people to, preference, and equal access to quality treatment.
The education of all patients to empower them to take an active part in the maintenance and improvement of their own health status.
Our traditions and ancestral rights including the right to make alternative choices in healthcare decisions.
Traditional Tribal knowledge, ceremonies, remedies, and their use in Tribal programs.
A safe and secure environment for patients and staff.
Our sovereign right to exercise self-government and self determination, and
AAAHC Accreditation

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 are accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, which means we are in compliance with national and state standards.

Our clinics are FTCA deemed facilities.

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 and dental 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 and Human Services Program collaborates with staff of other Karuk Tribal Programs, such as Indian Child Welfare, Head Start, Child Care, Natural Resources, and Enrollment.

Outreach & Transportation Services

Limited 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 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.

Code of Ethical Behavior

The Karuk Tribal Health and Human Services Program (KTHHSP) has established this statement of organizational ethics in recognition of the program’s 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:

Maintaining an organizational reputation that reflects credibility, honesty, morality, and ethics.
That all patients, employees and visitors deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and courtesy
That we will provide services to meet the identified needs of our patients, and will avoid providing services that are unnecessary or ineffective.
That we will meet legal requirements for participation in Federal Health Care Programs, and will strive to prevent any likelihood of fraud, abuse or waste, and
That 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.

Responsibilities of Our Leaders:

Leaders are expected to be role models and observe approved policies and procedures. They shall ensure that employees receive the proper training and be available to clarify any questions regarding regulations, laws, this code or policies and procedures.

Leaders shall encourage everyone to express their ethical concerns, and to be fair and equal when discipline is required as a method of enforcing compliance policies

Admissions and Referrals:

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 to the extent that is practical and possible. We will inform patients about the therapeutic alternatives and risks associated with 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.

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, or the Karuk Council, or between patient care givers and the patient, we will seek to resolve all conflicts fairly and objectively. In cases where mutual satisfaction can not be achieved, an appeal to the Karuk Council 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 conflict does not inappropriately influence important decisions.

The Karuk Health Council is required to sign an annual Conflict of Interest Statement to assure that Council decisions are made in the best interest of the organization and the individuals served by it and to disclose potential conflicts related to decisions that arise during the course of a year.

Physicians and other staff members are encouraged to disclose financial Conflict of Interest.

The KTHHSP discloses that they negotiate preferred provider agreements with referral providers to obtain cost effective Contract Health Services, (CHS) and that no financial compensation is involved.

Fair Billing Practices:

The KTHHSP 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 relative to their care. We will attempt to resolve questions and objections to the satisfaction of the patient while considering the organization’s best interest as well.

Confidentiality:

The organization recognizes the extreme need to maintain patient and other information in a confidential manner. As such, patient information will not be shared in an unauthorized manner and sensitive information concerning personnel and management issues will be maintained in the strictest confidence and utilized 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 need.

The KTHHSP shall abide by the principle to treat employees, patients, physicians, and others we serve with utmost respect.

Government Inspections:

Karuk Tribal Health and Human Services Program (and relevant Karuk Tribe) employees are instructed to fully cooperate with government inspections conducted at our facilities. We emphasize that no altering, destroying, or concealing of documents be performed nor any lying, misleading of any kind, or making false statements. This also includes delaying or obstructing information.

Leaders (Executive Director, Program Manager, Chief Fiscal Officer, and Compliance Officer) shall take the lead in the investigation and shall encourage employees to provide accurate and honest information.

Accreditation:

We will be truthful and shall not deceive accrediting bodies or survey teams.

Policies & Procedures

PURPOSE. To provide guidance on the inclusion and support of traditional Tribal health principals and practices within the Karuk Tribal Health System, membership and communities within the service area.

POLICY. The policy of the Karuk Tribal Health & Human Services Program (KTHHSP) during the course of administering health services and supporting the communities served is to protect and to preserve the inherent right of all American Indians to believe, express, and exercise their traditional religion.

The KTHHSP continues to recognize the value and efficacy of traditional beliefs, ceremonies, and practices of the healing of the body, mind and spirit. Faith is most often an integral part of the healing process and provides support for purposeful living. It is therefore, the policy of the KTHHSP to encourage a climate or respect, acceptance and active support for traditional beliefs and practices.

PROCEDURE.

The KTHHSP staff has been instructed to inform patients they have the freedom to practice traditional religion when desired by the individual, member of the family (in case of a minor) or when the patient’s condition is such they cannot make a request.
When a KTHHSP patient (guardian/family members) request assistance in obtaining the service of a native healer every effort will be made to comply. Such efforts might include contacting a traditional “doctor,” providing the space or privacy within the facility for ceremony, and/or the authorization to utilize health program funds to offset the expenses associated with a traditional healer.
Since a person’s religious and native beliefs are often very personal, the patient’s right to privacy must be respected in these matters. No KTHHSP employee should be guilty of uninvited probing or interference in a patient’s private beliefs. Many Indian patients prefer to say nothing about their beliefs and practices. This is a right that must be respected.
The KTHHSP specifically recognizes that “health” from a traditional perspective has several layers and 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 and family, and ultimately the individual. Therefore, it shall be the practice of the KTHHSP to support these local ceremonies including but not limited to the Jump Dance, Pick-ya-wish, Brush Dance and other ceremonies related to world renewal, balance, and individual health.
Within this policy, KTHP staff must continue to be aware of, sensitive to, and respectful of traditional beliefs and practices of the American Indian it serves. Procedures that would tend to interfere with, dilute, or modify these beliefs and practices must be avoided. Carefulness must be exercised so that KTHHSP support in whatever form it takes, does not become a wedge, which creates dependence or wrests control from the recognized and honored healers, dance leaders, and other traditional practitioners. The goal is that there be respect and a complimentary interface between the modern and traditional systems of medicine and religion. Care must be taken that the KTHHSP support does not become a means of destroying or altering a system of healing that has a long history and contemporary relevance.

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