Video monitoring in the operating room poses many new issues
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
December 30, 2009
As digital video technology has developed, so too has the chance to use that technology in the operating room (OR). A new blog post written by Martin Young, MBChB, FCS(SA) on the KevinMD blog explores the potential questions raised by using video technology in the OR. Young admits that while airplane pilots work knowing that their every move and conversation is recorded, and do so in the name of safety, that concept makes him a little uneasy in surgery.
Some questions that Young raises include:
- Who “owns” the recording?
- Can, or should, the recording be edited, cut or deleted in any way, particularly when things go wrong?
- How do the malpractice insurers feel about this technology?
- Consent to record must be taken, but does a patient have the right to refuse?
