Monday, March 23, 2015

Patients Secretly Recording Doctors

The 3/12/2015 edition of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) discusses "Ethical Implications of Patients and Families Secretly Recording Conversations With Physicians".

I don't think patients should record their physicians without their consent. However, I do strongly favor such recordings when both sides agree, as discussed in my February 2015 Forbes column, "Why You Should Record Your Doctor Visits".

But I also recognize that many states allow such surreptitious recordings with only "one party" (patient) consent.  Hence, I also agree with the JAMA piece that physicians should probably start communicating as if their words were being permanently recorded by the patient.