This study maps the distribution of diagnoses, survival rates, and demographic profiles of patients in primetime hospital dramas and compares the results with actual hospital data. Complete seasons of ER, Chicago Hope, and Grey's Anatomy are content analyzed and compared with a survey of U.S. hospitals. Compared to real-world patients, hospital patients on television have a lower representation of Hispanics, senior citizens, infants, and women; and a higher representation of White, middle-aged men. The medical diagnoses of TV patients are biased toward dramatic diseases such as mood disorders and medical problems that are graphic and easily visible. The mortality rate among TV patients is nearly nine times higher than that of hospital patients in the real world. The results are discussed from the perspectives of media system dependency theory and cultivation theory.
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