This definition and descriptors of Right Care were developed by the RCA Steering Committee:
Right Care is a human right. It places the health and well-being of patients first. Right Care is affordable and effective. It is compassionate, honest, and safe. Right Care brings healing and comfort to patients, and satisfaction to clinicians. Achieving Right Care will require radically transforming how care is delivered and financed.
1. Right Care provides access to necessary, high quality care, without causing financial hardship. It achieves the best outcomes at the fairest price, and is free from unnecessary diagnosis, testing and treatment. Right Care eliminates underuse, overuse and misuse of care and minimizes health care-associated harm.
2. Right Care builds respectful partnerships between people and their health care practitioners. It reflects the patient’s values and goals, and the clinician’s medical expertise and concern.
3. Right Care allows patients and practitioners sufficient time to engage in shared decision making and act as partners in achieving best medical practice and outcomes. Right Care includes discussions of prevention as well as treatment of disease and injury.
4. Right Care is transparent and provides people with easy to understand and current information on insurance, costs, quality, safety and outcomes. It deals honestly and compassionately with people who have suffered injury or harm from their medical treatments.
5. Right Care is supported by technology that serves people and the public good.
6. Right Care is free from conflicts of interest and health industry monopolies. It places the health and well-being of patients over the corrupting influence of profits.
7. To put patients and communities first, Right Care requires universal, publicly-funded insurance coverage integrated into a redesigned, not-for-profit health system that eliminates overpricing, waste, needless complexity and is accountable to the people it serves.
8. Right Care addresses social needs and disparities that significantly impact health and well-being. This includes, yet is not limited to, adequate housing, jobs with living wages, nutritious food, and a clean, safe environment.
9. Right Care engages practitioners, patients and communities to act in partnership as advocates for the health and well-being of all.