TV Filming Proves Costly for Mass General, Two Other Hospitals (1)

Decisions by three prestigious teaching hospitals in Boston to allow the filming of a TV documentary series on site created privacy concerns that will cost them nearly $1 million.

Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Boston Medical Center should have gotten patient authorization before allowing producers for the ABC documentary series to film on site, the federal Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights said. The series, “Save My Life: Boston Trauma,” aired in 2015.

Not doing so violated the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, according to the OCR.

The office reached separate settlements with ...