That phrase may be the last word that some patients hear from their physician as they go under the knife, if a Massachusetts law passes.

The new bill, proposed in the Mass. house, would give patients the right to request videotaping of their surgical procedures by a licensed medical videographer, says Business Week. Hospitals would keep the video on file, presumably as part of the patient’s medical record.

The catch? 1) Patients have to pay for the filming out of pocket and 2) patients must request the filming themselves.

Before catching these two little details, it seemed like Massachusetts was finally taking seriously the occurrence of surgical errors and perhaps was putting in place a way to encourage doctors to be more careful (because they are on camera). Instead, this proposed bill seems to be more about allowing patients the right to protect themselves in the event of medical error and any ensuing litigation. While this is not entirely a bad thing, it is hardly the proactive move that it could be.

What also has not been discussed is the effect that videotaping surgical procedures will have on hospital staff in the negative sense. Will the presence of another person video recording their every move make them nervous and therefore more prone to error? Will it make the staff treat that patient differently, in the sense that they will fear that the request for video-taping is borne out of some propensity to look for errors and/or file lawsuits?

It seems to me that this bill, in its current form, is ill-conceived and may lead to bad outcomes. While the use of video recording in the surgical suite could be used as a teaching tool and a means to prevent medical errors, its current formulation seems unlikely to result in either.

Summer Johnson McGee, PhD