Resident Privacy Breach Due to Photograph Taken Without Written Consent
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure a resident's right to privacy and confidentiality when a photograph of the resident's body and private space was taken without written consent from the resident or their designated representative. According to facility policy, photographs may only be taken by authorized healthcare providers during emergency situations to support accurate assessment and timely clinical decision-making, and only with appropriate consent. In this case, a resident with severely impaired cognition and multiple diagnoses, including Non-Alzheimer's Dementia and acute kidney failure, was photographed by a physician during an episode involving a large volume of blood-tinged vomit. The photograph was taken to show the resident's family the severity of the situation in order to obtain consent for intravenous fluids and hospital transfer, as the family had initially declined these interventions. Interviews with facility staff, including the DON, Medical Doctor, Medical Director, and Administrator, confirmed that the photograph was taken and shared only with the resident's health care proxy during a phone conversation to facilitate emergency care decisions. However, there was no documentation in the resident's medical record indicating that a photograph had been taken without consent, and no written consent was obtained prior to taking the photograph. The facility's actions did not align with their own policy or regulatory requirements regarding resident privacy and consent for photography.