Patient and Provider Attitudes toward Commercial Television Film Crews in the Emergency Department

One of the most successful reality-based television shows is The Learning Channel's "Trauma-Life in the ER," in which patients are filmed prior to being consented and camera crews are intimately intertwined in resuscitations. OBJECTIVE: To assess provider and patient attitudes regarding privacy and satisfaction during filming. METHODS: This was a prospective survey of patients and providers working in an urban, county teaching emergency department (ED). Scores of visual analog scales (VASs) for satisfaction, privacy, and willingness to return to the ED were accessed. RESULTS: Eighty patients, 39 physicians and 39 nurses, were interviewed. On a 10-cm VAS where 0 = no invasion of patient privacy and 10 = extreme privacy invasion, the mean (+/-SD) rating by physicians was 5.4 (+/-2.6), by nurses was 4.9 (+/-3.1), and by patients was 2.3 (+/-3.2). There was no significant difference between physician and nurse ratings (p = 0.69), but patients rated invasion of privacy significantly lower (p < 0.0001). Filmed patients rated significantly higher invasion of privacy (3.8 +/- 4.1) than patients not filmed or those unsure whether they had been filmed (1.6 +/- 2.5); p < 0.01). On a 10-cm VAS where -5 = extreme decrease in satisfaction and 5 = extreme increase in satisfaction, the mean rating by physicians was -0.25 (+/-1.6), by nurses was -0.32 (+/-1.3), and by patients was 0.02 (+/-1.4). There was no statistical difference between the satisfaction levels of providers and patients (p = 0.19). CONCLUSIONS: Providers rated invasion of patient privacy higher than patients rated their own invasion of privacy. Patients who were filmed rated invasion of privacy higher than patients who were not filmed. Filming had no significant effect on the satisfaction of providers or patients.