Use extreme caution with local news crews
They might not be friendly to the hospital’s cause’
[Editor’s note: In this second part of a two-part series, we explore how the Health Insurance Portabil-ity and Accountability Act (HIPAA) may complicate the issue of cameras in the ED and why a local news crew requires the most vigilance. Last month, ED Management looked at the need for exercising tight control over camera crews in your ED.]
ED managers who have allowed camera crews are unanimous in one warning: A quick visit from a local television news crew can be much more risky and problematic than a long-term commitment to a documentary crew. If you’re not careful, you can play right into the hands of a local crew looking for a sensational "chaos in the ED" moment for the evening news.
And there may be a new wrinkle that can complicate any plans to allow camera crews in your ED: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) may make it very difficult to do without violating the privacy rules.
Favoring a long-term commitment to a camera crew may sound counterintuitive, because that means having outsiders in your ED for months instead of just a day or two of disruption, notes Kathleen J. Clem, MD, FACEP, chief of emergency medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. Duke recently hosted a camera crew from The Discovery Channel based in Silver Spring, MD, which videotaped Clem and the rest of the ED for about six months.
The footage was used in the series ER Stories and still is aired occasionally. But Clem says the difference is that you can plan more thoroughly for the long-term crew, implement stricter rules, and get to know the members of the crew.
At Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, which allowed cameras in the ED for ABC’s videotaping of Hopkins 24/7, Gary Stephenson, public affairs spokesman, compares the Hopkins experience to how reporters were embedded with military units during the war in Iraq.
"It’s an important point because a bond was created between the camera people and the health care providers. They almost became part of the team," he says. "They became friends and developed a lot of trust."
Local news team may be more disruptive
A local television crew, on the other hand, might blow in the front door one morning and constantly get in the way because they aren’t familiar with your operations. After only a short while, a long-term crew should fall into the flow of your ED and become nearly invisible. And Clem cautions that you have to look at the different motives of a long-term crew vs. a quick visit by a local camera crew.
"I don’t think our hospital would let a local camera crew come in the ED for a couple of days," she says.
The local crew’s motive is very different: Local news usually is looking for some type of controversy, Clem says. "We might see them as not being friendly to the hospital’s cause," she says. "You have to know up front what is the agenda for the people filming."
That caution concerns not only the hospital’s image, but also the way patients are portrayed. A long-term written agreement allows the hospital to more closely control what footage of patients is aired. Duke never allowed patients to be shown in a negative light, even if they had signed a consent form.
"We didn’t show the patients who were drunk and screaming obscenities and spitting at the nurses," Clem says. "But for local news, that would be great. It would be on the news that night before we had a chance to stop it."
Short-term projects still feasible
That doesn’t mean, however, that you should never allow camera crews in for short projects. The ED at Moses Taylor Hospital in Scranton, PA, recently had a good experience with a camera crew shooting a video news release about the importance of first aid, says Richard O’Brien, MD, FACEP, an emergency physician. The experience was worthwhile for its educational impact, and the video news release portrayed the hospital in a positive light, he says.
Even though the crew was in the ED for only about four hours, the visit required extensive preparation. The ED staff worked closely with the hospital’s public affairs department and set limits on what the crew could do.
"One issue was determining exactly when they could come. They wanted to use an exam room for some shots, so we told them they had to come very early in the morning," he says. "By 9 a.m., we’re full."
O’Brien advises ED managers to follow the guidelines from the American College of Emergency Physicians in Washington, DC, and to always keep patient care and patient confidentiality the highest priorities. Stephenson, who coordinated ABC’s work at Johns Hopkins, says ED managers should not be lulled into complacency by positive experiences such as the one at his own hospital.
"We’re very positive about this process, but this was a very, very, very well-planned event," he says.
For events that are not as well planned, you could probably run into serious problems, Stephenson points out.
"My advice would be, even if it’s a brief news story, I would approach it with extreme caution," he adds.
Sources
For more information on camera crews in the ED, contact:
- Kathleen J. Clem, MD, FACEP, Chief of Emergency Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710. Telephone: (919) 684-5537. E-mail: [email protected].
- Richard O’Brien, MD, FACEP, Emergency Department, Moses Taylor Hospital, 700 Quincy Ave., Scranton, PA 18510-1798. Telephone: (570) 340-2900.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content