Helpful, harmful, or illegal: Can your patients really record you? — The pros and cons of recording doctors

Helpful, harmful, or illegal: Can your patients really record you? — The pros and cons of recording doctors
MedPage Today; by Max Feinstein; 8/9/24
My name is Max Feinstein and I'm an anesthesiologist in New York City. I'm not a lawyer, but as a physician and a content creator, I think it's really important for both patients and healthcare providers to have a good understanding of when it's okay to record audio or video in the hospital. The term "wiretap laws" refers to statutes that govern audio and video recordings made of face-to-face conversations, telephone calls, or video calls. These laws vary from state to state. Where states that have one-party consent laws means that only one person who is in the area that's being recorded has to provide consent... Thirty-seven states in the United States have one-party consent laws. This contrasts with all-party consent, meaning, as the name implies, that everyone who is involved with the recording has to provide their consent. Violation of these laws may result in fines up to $100,000 and possibly jail time as well. Wiretap laws are not the same thing as HIPAA, which you might have heard about before... In addition to wiretap laws, many hospitals also have policies in place specifically describing what is and is not allowed as far as recording is concerned...
Publisher's note: Nearly everyone has a recording device (i.e., a smartphone). Does your organization have recording policies?