Selfies are fun (unless you are performing surgery)!

Let’s be honest.  Selfies are fun.  They are great ways of capturing the moment.  Like my daughter and I on the merry-go-round at FunPlex this summer.  Selfies can also get you in lots of trouble. I can honestly say I have  never had a doctor or other health care provider ask whether taking a selfie during surgery is a good idea.  It’s not.  As some doctors in China recently discovered.

Here are a few reasons why it is a bad idea:

– HIPAA does not approve;

– Plaintiffs’ lawyers would certainly not approve;

– your hospital/clinic/employer would not approve;

– your patient probably did not approve (i.e., provide informed consent); and

– your own lawyer certainly would not approve.

The selfie-happy doctors in China were reprimanded and docked three months of pay, a slap on the wrist compared to what could have happened.  The moral of this story: save your selfies for somewhere other than the OR!