JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

In China, a growing number of physicians are filming clinical encounters in consultation or examination rooms to produce short‑form health education videos for popular platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou. This practice offers undeniable educational benefits—lowering knowledge barriers, reaching underserved populations, and making abstract medical concepts tangible through authentic footage. However, it also raises profound ethical and legal concerns regarding patient privacy, informed consent, and professional integrity. This Viewpoint does not dismiss this new form of outreach but critically examines the inherent tension between health popularization and patient rights.  We identify three unresolved questions that demand urgent attention. First, how can informed consent be made substantively meaningful—ensuring genuine comprehension, voluntariness, and revocability—rather than merely procedural? Second, how can de‑identification extend beyond facial blurring to systematically protect multi‑dimensional patient features, including voice, clothing, background, and medical narrative details? Third, what responsibilities should healthcare institutions assume for employee‑initiated filming that occurs within their clinical infrastructure, given that most hospitals currently lack clear policies?  We review the arguments for clinical filming, including enhanced patient comprehension and credibility, while acknowledging its costs, such as risks of privacy violations, psychological distress, and the potential for algorithmic sensationalism that undermines professional dignity. We also briefly examine regulatory responses, noting that while frameworks like the EU’s GDPR, the US’s HIPAA, and China’s Personal Information Protection Law set important benchmarks, operational standards and enforcement mechanisms remain insufficiently developed. In China’s fast‑paced outpatient environments, where physicians may see over 100 patients daily, establishing a feasible workflow that does not disrupt clinical care or infringe on patients’ rights—while preserving clinicians’ enthusiasm for public education—poses a formidable practical challenge.  We argue that healthcare institutions, not individual physicians, should bear primary responsibility for developing and enforcing clear ethical standards. Hospitals should establish filming policies, implement robust consent procedures, provide training, and create complaint mechanisms. Platform operators should also enforce content guidelines that prioritise patient dignity over engagement metrics. Achieving this balance requires sustained dialogue among the medical community, legal experts, platform operators, and the public. Ultimately, the pursuit of universal health literacy must not come at the expense of individual privacy, autonomy, or human dignity. This Viewpoint calls for a collaborative effort to establish ethical boundaries and operational guidelines for this emerging digital health practice.