All media inquiries regarding patient conditions should be directed to the designated hospital spokesperson(s). When making an inquiry about a particular patient, news media must have the name of the patient before the designated spokesperson can make an attempt to obtain information regarding that person's condition. Unless the patient has requested that information be withheld, the patient's one-word condition and location may be released without obtaining additional patient authorization.

In some cases, patient will not have had the opportunity to state a preference related to the release of their information. For example, a patient's medical condition may prevent hospital staff from asking about information preferences upon admission. In those circumstances, condition and location information should be released only if, in the hospital's professional judgment, releasing such information would be in the patient's best interest. As soon as the patient recovers sufficiently, the hospital must ask for information preferences. Each hospital should develop policies and procedures to guide staff in making these judgments.

In Case of Public Record (including police and accident cases): Matters of public record refer to situations that are reportable by law to public authorities, such as law enforcement agencies, the coroner or public health officer. Condition reports on patients can be given by the hospital when names are provided by the media, if the patient has agreed to be listed in the hospital's directory, or, if permission has been granted by the patient's legal representative. All other inquiries regarding the circumstances of injury or illness or the causes of said injury or illness will be referred to the appropriate public authorities. All inquiries regarding general description of injuries or statement of prognosis will be released by the attending physician or by the attending physician through the designated spokesperson.

While laws and/or regulations require health care facilities to report a variety of information to public authorities, it is not the responsibility of facilities to provide that information in response to calls or other inquiries from the media or other parties, including law enforcement officials. Instead, such calls should be directed to the appropriate public authority.

In Cases of VIP Patients: Under HIPAA, public officials and public figures are not subject to different standards than other patients when it comes to hospital policies for releasing information to the media.

When a prominent person is hospitalized, they may have their own spokesperson to whom all requests for information should be directed. If this is the case, the hospital spokesperson should comply and cooperate.