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[By Staff Reporters]

CONVERSATIONS RECORDED WITH PHYSICIANS

With recent advances in technology, smart phones can become recording devices with the touch of a button. This technological capability gives patients and their families the ability to easily and surreptitiously record conversations with physicians. The frequency of such recordings or whether they even occur is unknown. The ubiquity of smart phones, however, suggests the potential for secret recordings to occur.

Link: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=2204226#jvp150030r8

As of January 2014, 58% of Americans owned a smart phone, including 83% of young adults. Although recording conversations with physicians may provide some benefit for patients and their families, secret recordings can undermine patient-physician relationships and ultimately affect the provision of health care.

Source: Michelle Rodriguez, JD; Jason Morrow, MD, PhD; Ali Seifi, MD. JAMA March 12, 2015. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.2424

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“MYSTERY PATIENT SHOPPER” RISKS

In 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a “mystery shopper” program to gauge primary-care physicians’ timeliness in accepting new patients, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The plan calls for contacting 4,185 primary-care physicians—465 in each of nine as-yet-unnamed states—twice, once by someone pretending to be a new patient who has private insurance and once by someone pretending to be a publicly insured patient.

Link: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/practices/more-patients-are-recording-doctor-visits

Scenarios will involve patients with both urgent medical concerns and those requesting a routine medical exam. The purpose of this program is to assess the timeliness with which primary-care services could be provided, gain insight into reasons why availability is lacking, and provide current information on primary-care availability and accessibility.

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Assessment

Ethical or NOT?

Now, what about doctors recording patients?

Link: https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2016/06/doctors-patients-secretly-record.html

VA Update: https://www.research.va.gov/currents/0318-Mystery-shopper-model-being-used-to-boost-VA-care.cfm

Conclusion

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Filed under: Ethics, Risk Management | Tagged: "Mystery Patient Shoppers", Jason Morrow MD, Michelle Rodriguez, Secretly Recording Conversations With Physicians | 3 Comments »