Media Center
Making a media inquiry
Memorial welcomes working with members of the media on stories relating to health and wellness. Requests for interviews should be made through Memorial’s media relations office.To be able to provide a prompt response to your inquiry and to ensure your needs as journalists are met, we ask that you first contact our media center to coordinate our response to your inquiry. Contacts to individual departments, employees, patients or physicians may result in a delayed response to your inquiry.
Inquiring about a patient
In compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Memorial maintains strict guidelines for releasing patient information. Patient privacy is of great importance to Memorial and its Family of Services.
As long as the patient has not requested that information be withheld, or the patient is unable to request having information withheld because of incapacity, Memorial may release a one-word description of the patient’s condition.
Information about the condition and location of an inpatient, outpatient or emergency department patient may be released only if the inquiry specifically contains the patient’s name. No information is to be given if the request does not include a specific patient’s name.
Condition classifications:
- Undetermined: The patient is awaiting a physician and a medical assessment.
- Treated and released: The patient has been treated by Memorial, and has been released. Generally, this indicates the patient’s condition was satisfactory upon release.
- Stabilized and transferred: The patient was stabilized at Memorial, and has been transferred to another facility for further care.
- Satisfactory: The patient’s vital signs (heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, temperature) are stable and within normal limits. The patient is conscious and comfortable.
- Serious: The patient’s vital signs may be unstable and not within normal limits. Patient is acutely ill.
- Critical: The patient’s vital signs are unstable or not within normal limits. The patient may be unconscious.
- Deceased: No information will be released until the next-of-kin has been notified and the patient’s body is still in the facility.
- Released: If a patient has been released, and Memorial receives an inquiry about the patient by name, Memorial will confirm that the patient is no longer in the hospital.
Members of the media may have further access to information about patients including patient interviews and photography if the patient has signed a media release form. To inquire about the status of a media release form, please contact Memorial’s media relations office.
Media photographers and reporters must have hospital permission before entering patient care areas. Hospital permission should be requested through the media center.
Special cases
The victims of an assault or other crimes are listed under "protective status" and their conditions will not be included in Memorial’s patient directory, for the protection of the patient and others in the hospital. It is Memorial’s policy not to provide any information pertaining to the patient's condition, or even confirm they are in the hospital.
In addition, law prohibits Memorial from releasing any information to the news media about psychiatric or substance abuse patients. Also, no statement may be made pertaining to whether a patient has a sexually transmitted or communicable disease, or is a victim of domestic violence or child abuse.
The guidelines included on this page are consistent with those recommended by the Washington State Hospital Association. For more information, click here to download the Guide For Cooperation: For Physicians, Hospitals, Press, Radio, Television in the State of Washington.
