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- Jun 9, 2010
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I'm talking about shows like "Trauma: Life in the ER".
First off, lemme say from the outset that I'm a medical student and not some patient-advocate with a chip on my shoulder.
But I watch these shows from time to time, such as today, and one thought that ran through my head was this:
Who is it who allows camera-men (or women) to come into the ED and film these patients?
I realize that most of these patients are probably asked whether or not their story and footage can be aired on television, but simply allowing a camera-man to be present without prior consent from the patient is a violation of these patients' privacy. I mean, there is a hell of a lot of blurred-out nudity on these shows, meaning that 1. the camera-man was seeing these patients nude, and 2. the patients were not aware of it. Similarly, with or without the nudity, the camera-man is still not a health care worker involved in the patient's care and shouldn't be privy to a patient's condition or care.
I also realize that there are other examples of "non health care personnel" being allowed to witness patients' health care, such as surgical equipment reps being allowed into the OR. But at very least, these people are serving a purpose. They're helping the surgeon to familiarize himself/herself with the equipment, etc. But a camera-man, in contrast, is of absolutely no benefit to anyone.
Finally, I realize that emergency departments aren't exactly the most private areas of a hospital, and that it's much tougher to maintain privacy there. But allowing camera crew into them is a deliberate violation of privacy rather than an inadvertent, unavoidable one.
Hence, I'm awfully curious as to how these things are allowed to happen in U.S. hospitals, both from an ethical standpoint and from a HIPAA standpoint. Even if the ethical problems don't bother anyone, it seems to me that, at very least, a camera-man being present and witnessing a patient in an emergency room without the patient's prior consent would be a gargantuan HIPAA violation.
First off, lemme say from the outset that I'm a medical student and not some patient-advocate with a chip on my shoulder.
But I watch these shows from time to time, such as today, and one thought that ran through my head was this:
Who is it who allows camera-men (or women) to come into the ED and film these patients?
I realize that most of these patients are probably asked whether or not their story and footage can be aired on television, but simply allowing a camera-man to be present without prior consent from the patient is a violation of these patients' privacy. I mean, there is a hell of a lot of blurred-out nudity on these shows, meaning that 1. the camera-man was seeing these patients nude, and 2. the patients were not aware of it. Similarly, with or without the nudity, the camera-man is still not a health care worker involved in the patient's care and shouldn't be privy to a patient's condition or care.
I also realize that there are other examples of "non health care personnel" being allowed to witness patients' health care, such as surgical equipment reps being allowed into the OR. But at very least, these people are serving a purpose. They're helping the surgeon to familiarize himself/herself with the equipment, etc. But a camera-man, in contrast, is of absolutely no benefit to anyone.
Finally, I realize that emergency departments aren't exactly the most private areas of a hospital, and that it's much tougher to maintain privacy there. But allowing camera crew into them is a deliberate violation of privacy rather than an inadvertent, unavoidable one.
Hence, I'm awfully curious as to how these things are allowed to happen in U.S. hospitals, both from an ethical standpoint and from a HIPAA standpoint. Even if the ethical problems don't bother anyone, it seems to me that, at very least, a camera-man being present and witnessing a patient in an emergency room without the patient's prior consent would be a gargantuan HIPAA violation.
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