In the HIPAA world, reality can be a bit too real. The Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights entered into a $2.2 million settlement with New York Presbyterian Hospital for disclosing patient PHI during the filming of the reality TV show, NY Med. This show is described by ABC as a series that “toggles between the renowned surgeons of Manhattan's New York Presbyterian Hospital and the gritty world of trauma surgeons at Newark's University Hospital where the ER is a doorway to the mean streets of one of America's most violent cities.”
According to a Resolution Agreement between HHS and New York Presbyterian, the Hospital impermissibly disclosed the protected health information of two patients to the film crew and staff of NY Med, failed to appropriately and reasonably safeguard its patients’ PHI during the filming, and failed to implement policies, practices and procedures to protect PHI.
The Hospital allowed the film crew to document someone dying and another person in significant distress, even after a medical professional urged the crew to stop the recording.
The Agreement finds that allowing individuals receiving urgent medical care to be filmed without their authorization violated HIPAA rules. It also held that the Hospital gave the film crew such access to its facilities so that PHI of patients could not be properly protected.
While the Hospital did not admit any violation of HIPAA, it did agree to pay to HHS $2,200,000 as a resolution to the complaint.
