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Camera phones may bring security concerns

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, July 5, 2007

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Although new technology has played a big role in improving hospital security, it has also created a whole slew of new concerns for security directors. The improper use of camera phones, for instance, not only raises red flags about patient privacy and possible Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) violations, but can cause headaches for hospital security.

It's important for your staff members, including security, to know what will be accepted or tolerated, including what level of intervention they should take if someone is misusing a camera phone. For example, does the hospital want security staff to confiscate devices? Where do you draw the line? For example, can visitors take pictures of family members? How do you verify who is family and who is not? These situations raise many questions for hospitals, including the following:

• Do you ask patients to sign releases that they agree to have their picture taken?
• Do you have signs posted or other materials to provide to patients and visitors so they understand your policy?
• Do you prohibit camera phones altogether or prohibit picture-taking in patient rooms, but allow it in the patient lounge or other common areas?

To get more information, go to Briefings on Hospital Safety (BHS). For the cost of just three stories, you can get the entire July issue of BHS. Click here to choose between the PDF and HTML versions for just $30. Subscribers to the online version of BHS have free access to this article. Subscribers to the print newsletter can find this article in their July issue.

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