Elysse Gorney and Brett Owens of Fisher Phillips write:
An employee walks into an exam room wearing AI glasses and asks the device to summarize the visit. Before the encounter ends, the patient’s description of symptoms, medical history, and treatment discussion could be transmitted to an outside AI platform. Without robust policies and procedures in place, the patient may never realize a recording occurred, and the employer may not know where the information went. Whether using video or audio-only recording, AI glasses present the same concern: sensitive patient information can leave the exam room if you don’t take proper precautions.
Scenarios like the one above raise various legal and data security issues in healthcare settings, which we’ll address in more detail below.
1. Address consent before recording begins.
Establish a consistent process for explaining what will be recorded, why, whether an outside AI service will process it, where it will be stored, and how long it will be retained. Have counsel review applicable recording-consent requirements and any separate HIPAA authorization requirements, including how consent or authorization will be documented.
Staff should know how to respond when a patient declines or withdraws permission. Shared rooms and treatment bays deserve particular attention because recordings may capture neighboring patients, family members, or interpreters. Clear communication also matters for patient trust: patients may hesitate to discuss sensitive concerns if they do not know who will have access to the recording.
Read more at JDSupra.