Can my doc videotape staff and our patients?

[Redley]

My doctor, who owns his own practice, set up a video camera on because he felt that there was too much socializing at work between employees that we have in the front office. He set up the camera so he could see all of the workstations, however, the camera will also be videotapeing the patients. Is this a violation to the employees? (We never signed any paperwork stating this would be done). Is there any privacy violation to the patients? Is the doc required to have every patient sign a waiver stating that they allow themselves to be videotaped? Or does he have to put up signage that the patients will be videotaped? We are in Colorado. I am not sure if there is audio.

[No One]

CRS 27-65-117, Section 4, states that a hospital may photograph a patient, upon admission, for identification/administrative purposes. Section 4 goes on to state that "No other nonmedical photographs shall be taken without appropriate consent or authorization." So unless your workplace is asking every single patient for permission before they are videotaped, and the cameras are turned off when patients refuse to be photographed, in my opinion they are breaking the law by recording patients without their permission.

[MunoRN, RN]

CRS 27-65-117, Section 4, states that a hospital may photograph a patient, upon admission, for identification/administrative purposes. Section 4 goes on to state that "No other nonmedical photographs shall be taken without appropriate consent or authorization." So unless your workplace is asking every single patient for permission before they are videotaped, and the cameras are turned off when patients refuse to be photographed, in my opinion they are breaking the law by recording patients without their permission.

That's actually the Colorado law pertaining to mental health facilities, and it only applies to photographs, security cameras are still allowed in mental health facilities and in my experience are pretty standard in mental health treatment areas in Colorado.

[cayenne06, MSN, CNM]

I'd be much more concerned about the dynamics that led to this decision, rather than camera itself. I mean jeez.

Do you personally feel there is a problem with the staff not working efficiently? Why is the doc concerned? It seems like this should be addressed directly, not through passive aggressive monitoring. Unless he is going to sit and watch the whole thing and constructively gather data to address the problem, well then I am not sure how it is going to help. If people want to shirk their responsibilities, the camera will just help them be more creative in avoiding their work. And if the staff is just generally feeling overworked/underappreciated/underpaid, then the camera is only going to make that worse.

Do you have an office manager? Or is the doc just the boss of everything in the office? At my office, my manager and I work together to address these kinds of concerns. We hold ourselves and the entire office to a very high standard. Because of the type of work we do, it can be emotionally draining and it would be impossible to avoid burn out if we didn't commit ourselves to working together.

We are the busiest non-surgical clinic in our affiliate, yet our patients get excellent care and decent face time with me, we always get our lunch break and get out on time, and never have I left without a smile on my face. It is only because of our high standards that we have enough time to enjoy our work and each other.

In other words, patient care is our priority, and a happy workforce is vital to that goal. It is amazing how much work can get done when everyone pitches in. And in that kind of environment, we have found that we can trust each other to act like grown ups about whether we have time to text someone between patients or share a story with a coworker, or zip to the back for a coffee.

If the staff are not pulling their share, or people are not happy at work, or patient care is not timely and excellent, then a video is not going to help.