Can Patients Make Recordings of Medical Encounters? What Does the Law Say?
Principal Investigators
Glyn Elwyn, MD, PhD, Paul James Barr, PhD, MScPH, Mary Castaldo, JD, MPH
Public Health Relevance
Patient engagement in their own healthcare decisions has become increasingly explored in contemporary health literature. The profound accessibility of handheld recording devices has maximized the patient’s ability to extract every detail from their clinic visits, but inconsistent legal codes pose a real barrier to their use. If a clear and consistent legal framework were to be imposed across the country, patients and physicians alike may feel far more comfortable with the premise of patient recordings, allowing patient recordings to become commonplace.
Funding Source
N/A
Project Period: Aug 2017
Project Summary
Patient-administered recordings of physicians’ visits have become an increasingly common practice in the clinical setting. The benefits of such recordings have been well documented in various studies, but the laws regulating these recordings are far less decisive. The motivations behind patient recordings are rarely malicious, but studies have shown that covert recordings are occurring. The legality of such secret recordings differs by jurisdiction, but physicians are fearful of their use in legal claims or complaints. This Viewpoint explores the legal landscape of audio recordings across the country and highlights the hurdles encountered by patients navigating their recording of clinic visits. Within the United States, there is great variance in the regulation of audio recording in settings where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. Certain districts require “single-party consent”, wherein only one party (including the recording party) is required to consent to be being recorded. Other “all-party” jurisdictions require the consent of all individuals being recorded. Clinicians, patient advocacy groups, and policy makers should work together to develop guidelines and regulatory guidance on patient recording.