It turns out that not everyone wants to be on television.  New York-Presbyterian found that out the hard way.

Back in 2011 the hospital allowed a television camera crew inside treatment areas to record footage for the ABC show “NY Med.”  The New York Times quotes a hospital spokesman as saying that the program “was intended to educate the public and provide insight into the complexities of medical care and the daily challenges faced by our dedicated and compassionate medical professionals.”

But the son of one patient took strong exception.  He filed a complaint with federal regulators stating that his mother—widow of the patient—was watching the program when she recognized her husband, filmed as he died in the ER, even though his image was blurred and his voice muffled.

On April 21 the Office of Civil Rights announced that the hospital will pay $2.2 million for allegedly violating HIPAA by disclosing two patients’ health information without their permission.  NY-Presbyterian didn’t admit liability but nevertheless agreed to make the payment.

One clear take-away is that, at least in this case, blurring the images and muffling the voices of patients wasn’t enough to protect the hospital from a charge of violating patient privacy rights.