Requests for Interviews or Filming/Photographs

Members of the media interested in conducting interviews or taking photographs of staff, patients, or patients' families must first request permission from the Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics Communications & Marketing Department.

All media will be required to present a photo I.D. when checking into the hospital. The Children's Mercy Communications & Marketing staff will issue identification badges to authorize photographers and reporters to conduct interviews or take photographs on campus. All members of the press will be escorted by a Communications & Marketing representative while on campus.

Written consent from a patient's legal representative must be given before the interview, filming or photography takes place.

• Interviews are not done in patient rooms or on inpatient floors.
• Only the child's legal guardian will be asked to do interviews. Relatives or friends who do not have custody of the child will not be allowed to do interviews on hospital property.
• We only approach a patient and his or her family one time regarding interviews. We do not follow up with multiple requests.
• If the parent wants to talk with just one news outlet (and other outlets have asked the hospital for access to the parents), the Communications & Marketing Department asks the parent to take that interview off hospital property to avoid the perception of the hospital "playing favorites" with news outlets.

Release of Patient Information and Patient Conditions

We hold our patients' and families' confidentiality and privacy in the highest precedence. Information about the condition of a patient will be released only if the inquiry specifically contains the patient's first and last name and the patient's legal representative has authorized the release. A patient, or the person authorized to give consent, can opt out of providing information altogether.

A member of the media must have a patient's first and last name before we can release a condition. Here's the definition of the one-word patient conditions we can release, as provided by the Missouri Hospital Association

• Undetermined: Patient awaiting physician assessment.
• Good: Vital signs 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.
• Treated and released: Received treatment but not admitted.