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Question: What is "ABC-TV 24/7"?
Answer: Beginning this month, producers and videographers from ABC News will make Children's their home, as they scout “characters” and compelling patient stories for a seven-part medical documentary to air in the summer of 2010.
Children’s administration agreed to participate in this series because it offers an unprecedented opportunity to show the extraordinary care and exceptional caregivers at Children’s Hospital Boston to families and opinion leaders across the country.
This show follows last summer’s six-part documentary, Hopkins, that offered an in-depth look at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Over seven weeks, approximately 6 million viewers per episode tuned in for a first-hand look at daily life at one of the nation’s top academic medical centers. That show was the second ABC documentary filmed at Hopkins, a follow-up to the highly successful inaugural Hopkins 24/7 that aired in 2000.
Because this experience will be very different from how we typically work with film crews at Children’s, please read the material below. This Q&A is intended to help staff across the institution become familiar and comfortable with the presence of cameras on campus for the next few months. If at any point during ABC’s presence here, you or one of your patients or families has a question or concern, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Public Affairs at ext. 4-3110 or by paging the Public Affairs person on call (pager 1641). Public Affairs staff are on call 24 hours a day.
When should we expect to see the ABC crews?
Probably early March. Staff from Public Affairs have already begun to introduce the field producers to staff in some key clinical areas, and over the next couple of weeks they will scout for stories by attending team meetings, case conferences, rounds and others forums around the hospital.
How big a part will Children’s have in the show?
The producers expect that 10 to 25 percent of the show’s seven hours will be devoted to pediatric stories. Not all are guaranteed to be at Children’s, however. The majority of stories in this series will be filmed at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the videographers are also following pediatric patients at MGH and may follow infants in the BWH NICU. The extent of our presence in the final, edited show will depend first on the producers finding interesting and charismatic clinicians who will engage viewers, and then on the heart-warming and compelling stories of the patients they care for.
How is this different from the typical filming that happens here?
First, the field producers and videographers will not be escorted by Public Affairs. However, Public Affairs will be deeply involved in the project, including a daily check-in with the videographers to follow-up quickly on any issues, concerns or questions that may have arisen in the previous 24 hours.
Second, the videographers will be very unobtrusive. The “crew” will be a team of one or two, who will shoot with hand-held video cameras, using natural sound and lighting (no boom mikes, TV tripods or cables to trip over) and a fly-on-the-wall approach to capturing events and interactions as they occur.
If Public Affairs is not there, how will the patients be consented?
To ensure proper informed consenting and privacy, Children’s Office of General Counsel (Legal Office) has developed a joint ABC-Children’s consent form for this project. Typically, a member of the care team will approach the family first, then the ABC videographer will explain the show and ask the parent or guardian for consent. Other safeguards are covered in our contract with ABC, as well. Staff will be able to opt out of the filming, and patients will be able to revoke consent up to 30 days after they signed the form, even if the filming has already taken place.
What else can you tell us about the ABC visitors?
They will all be wearing Children’s visitor IDs, and will be CORI-checked, HIPAA-trained, and TB-tested and adequately immunized (against measles, mumps rubella, chicken pox and flu) to spend weeks in our environment. There will be broad communications to staff and patient families and visitors as the filming gets underway and throughout the three months they may be here.
Public Affairs will keep you posted on the filming. Again, we would like to hear from you, your colleagues or any patients or parents about any questions or concerns. Please contact the Office of Public Affairs at ext. 4-3110 or by paging the Public Affairs person on call (pager 1641). Public Affairs staff are on call 24 hours a day. |
