Public Relations Policies
Policies | Required Forms
Policies
The public relations team at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center operates under the following guidelines and policies:
- To arrange all interviews, please call public relations. Our researchers, physicians and other caregivers are very busy. A team member can run interference for reporters, making sure to get time with a specialist. In addition, if the person a reporter requests is not available, we may be able to provide an alternative source.
- To protect the privacy of families with sick children and uphold the law, please announce that you will be coming to the medical center. We'll find experts for interviews and rooms in which to conduct interviews. We'll also contact families upon your request to ascertain their interest in being interviewed.
- To ensure patient confidentiality, privacy and sensitivity to all of the patients, families and employees at Cincinnati Children's, reporters, film crews and photographers should always be accompanied by a public relations team member while on any of the campuses of Cincinnati Children's, unless prior arrangements with the public relations staff are made.
- To be photographed or videotaped at Cincinnati Children's, we ask legal guardians to sign a Photograph, Film or Vocal Recording Release form for any patient under 18 years old. If the patient is 18 years old or older, the patient can sign the form themselves.
- To release any confidential information about our patients and because of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), legal guardians must complete an Authorization and Release for the Use and / or Disclosure of Protected Health Information form.
- To release a one-word description of our patient's condition to the media, in accordance with HIPAA, the patient must be listed in the hospital directory. (The legal guardian makes this decision at the time the patient registers.) Most health professionals in hospitals use the following terms to describe a patient's condition after a first and last name of the patient is obtained:
UNDETERMINED: Patient currently being evaluated.
GOOD: Vital signs, such as pulse, temperature and blood pressure are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious and comfortable; indicators are excellent.
FAIR: Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious but may be uncomfortable. Indicators are favorable.
SERIOUS: Vital signs may be unstable and not within normal limits. Patient is acutely ill. Indicators are questionable.
CRITICAL: Vital signs are unstable and not within normal limits. Patient may not be conscious. Indicators are unfavorable.
DECEASED: Patient has died.
DISCHARGED OR IS NO LONGER HERE
Back to Top
Required Forms
Because we respect the rights and privacy of our patients at Cincinnati Children's, we require a signature on both the Photograph, Film or Vocal Recording Release form and the Release for the Use and / or Disclosure of Protected Health Information form. Both require a signature by a parent / guardian, for all patients under the age of 18, or a patient over the age of 18.
Also, if your story requires that you go into any patient areas where you might see, overhear, access or temporarily possess PHI (protected health information) of a patient, you will be asked to complete an Observer Confidentiality Agreement ahead of time.
You can view the forms by downloading each in portable document format (.pdf):
You must have Adobe Acrobat" Reader installed on your computer to read this file. You can download Adobe Acrobat" Reader at Adobe's Web site by selecting the version appropriate for your type of computer.
Back to Top
