Consent forms a must for photos, videotapes
Make sure your hospital isn't violating patients' privacy rights when videotaping or photographing surgical procedures, births, and other medical operations, warns the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) in Chicago.
Courts have found health care providers liable primarily when the provider has exploited the patient for commercial benefit. Courts have also imposed liability, however, when the patient's name or likeness was used for noncommercial purposes.
Have policies and procedures in place to ensure all patients read and sign a consent form giving approval to photograph medical procedures, advises Jean Clark, RRA, AHIMA president. The consent should set the parameters on how your visual records will be used.
Your written policy should explain when such visual records are taken, the consent process, who owns the photographic records, and procedures for using the records outside the organization.
Also, make sure photographic records are clearly marked with the patient's name, identification number, and date, and are stored with medical records or in another secure area.
Three other factors AHIMA advises addressing in your policies and procedures:
* Photographic records cannot be released to other people or organizations unless the patient or his or her legal representative gives written authorization.
* Parents-to-be must give prior consent for photographs of their newborns to be taken -- even if the photos will only be sold to the parents.
* In most cases, taking photographs to document and report cases of abuse or neglect does not require the patient's permission. Check your state laws.
* Consent is not needed for photography done by the patient's family or friends, but this should be addressed in your policy and procedures. For example, if family members are videotaping during childbirth, allowances should be included to discontinue the taping if the physician deems it necessary. *
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