But patients can share their own PHI with anyone.Īs a physician, you can’t demand that your office visits remain confidential. HIPAA protects patients from having their Protected Health Information (PHI) disclosed to anyone without their permission. Isn’t Recording Medical Visits a HIPAA Violation? In these states, all parties have to be informed the conversation is being recorded, so your patients must inform you of their intent to record you. Patients have the legal right to record office visits without your permission in all states except California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Is Recording Doctors’ Office Visits Legal? The problem is that the fear that recordings can be used for frivolous lawsuits places yet another strain on the doctor-patient relationship. Whatever the reason, patients are doing it. Maybe they are afraid that you will say no. Why will some patients record you secretly? Perhaps they are not aware that this may bother you or break any laws. It may, however, surprise you to know that there are currently articles in popular magazines, such as Forbes, suggesting that all patients should record their doctors’ visits, to avoid “false memories”. It probably wouldn’t bother you if an elderly person, caring for a spouse with dementia, asked you to record the office visit to help remember your instructions.

Sometimes, there are legitimate reasons for recording a medical appointment. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 percent of patients walk out of their physician’s office not clear on what they were told or are supposed to do. Patients generally want to record medical office visits because they can’t remember what was said. Relax, it’s not because they are looking for a law suit, or because your handwriting is terrible. Why are Patients Recording Doctors’ Office Visits? Chances are, if you’re a healthcare provider, you too have been recorded without knowing it. The vicious nature of this recording made it go viral on the internet, bringing major attention to the issue of patients recording doctors’ visits.Īlthough this procedure was recorded accidentally, pressing the “record” button on cell phones, laptops, tablets, and hand-held video game devices make it easier than ever to record medical appointments. Needless to say, the patient, upset at being the butt of all the jokes, sued. Ingham insults the patient, making fun of his personality, his education, his appearance… and his body. In the end, she decides to add a false diagnosis of hemorrhoids to his chart, presumably for fun.

Tiffany Ingham, an anesthesiologist, was accidentally recorded as she worked on a sedated patient during a routine colonoscopy.

Doctors visits