Posted In: Cybersecurity & Data Privacy & Health Care
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Health Care
Compliance Checkup: Going Viral - Not Always A Good Thing
on April 23, 2019
Remember when the passenger on an overbooked United Airlines flight was forcibly removed from the flight and videos of the incident were posted on social media? In this day and age, you can’t be too careful about video and audio recordings and photography, especially at a medical practice or in a health care facility. This Compliance Checkup will cover the issue of a patient (or a person accompanying a patient) who initiates a video or audio recording or photography while at your practice or facility.
Points to Ponder: Check your state laws regarding recordings. Many states, including Ohio, allow a recording of a conversation if one person who is part of the conversation consents to the recording. In practical terms, this means that a person recording a conversation does not need to have the consent of anyone else that is part of the conversation − so a patient can record a physician or other staff member at your practice without their consent. The tricky part about patients recording or taking photographs is that it can be hard to prevent a patient (or persons accompanying the patient) from recording or taking any photographs. If asked by a patient, however, physicians and staff members have the right to say no to a recording or a photograph.
To Prohibit or Permit? Ultimately, it is up to you to decide whether to prohibit or permit recordings and photographs. Regardless of the decision you make, it is important to be mindful of how to respond to these types of situations ahead of time. Here are considerations for each side of the coin:
- Prohibit All Patient Recordings and Photographs
- Regulate Patient Recordings/Photographs
Providers have been increasingly open to patient recordings. The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston buys recorders and batteries in bulk, offering them to patients at cancer clinics. As of 2017, 300 new cancer patients a year are using them. At the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, a neurosurgeon records visits, and patients can watch the video later on a web platform.
Consider your stance toward patient recordings and photography now, and be sure to implement a policy that makes sense for your practice or facility. If you have any questions or need further guidance, contact the Health Care Practice Group at Brouse McDowell.
This blog is intended to provide information generally and to identify general legal requirements. It is not intended as a form of, or as a substitute for legal advice. Such advice should always come from in-house or retained counsel. Moreover, if this Blog in any way seems to contradict advice of counsel, counsel's opinion should control over anything written herein. No attorney client relationship is created or implied by this Blog. © 2024 Brouse McDowell. All rights reserved.