What to Do When Patients Record Conversations with Their Physicians

The use of cell phones by patients and families for the purpose of recording conversations with their healthcare providers is a topic of serious concern to many physicians. Recordings made without provider knowledge are at the least disconcerting and may have a negative impact on the physician-patient relationship. Conversely, the recording of the informed consent discussion, patient education and/or discharge instructions by patients may be viewed as an adjunct to improving the patients’ knowledge and understanding of their health and healthcare.

The following article from the ECRI Institute’s Risk Management Reporter explores these issues in detail: “Covert Affairs: Recording Conversations in Physician Offices.” (Update: The article is no longer available online; you can access related risk management information from ECRI here.)

“Covert Affairs” originally appeared in the August 2015 edition of ECRI Institute’s Risk Management Reporter newsletter, part of ECRI Institute’s Healthcare Risk Control program. It is reprinted here with permission. More information is available at http://www.ecri.org/hrc.