Introduction:

The right to health care ensures access of all individuals to equal opportunities to achieve an optimal health status.

Objective:

Describe the relationship between inalienable human rights and patient-centered care according to users of primary health care centers and experts in primary health care in Chile.

Methods:

A qualitative prospective descriptive study was conducted from January to December 2015 to analyze Krippendorff's alpha content in five focal groups of 41 users and three-round e-Delphi with 29 Chilean experts, as well as the data saturation end criterion and the agreement coefficient.

Results:

According to users, perception of kind treatment in health care implies that it be consistent and integrated and does not breach users' needs, all of which is directly related to respect for the right to health. This is consistent with the opinions contributed by experts, but not with the experiences undergone by users at primary health care centers, which are examples of practices related to institutional violence.

Conclusions:

Respect for health human rights should have a first-priority position in the health public agenda, since dignified treatment is a right to be enjoyed by the entire population.

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