According to a recent LA Times article, “An emergency room patient at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach on April 9 layed mortally wounded… [while the] hospital staff did the unthinkable: They snapped photos of the dying man and posted them on Facebook.” Eventually four staff members were fired and three disciplined, according to a St. Mary spokeswoman. At least two nurses were involved, but none were fired, a union spokesman said.
Usually it’s the celebrity that gets that type of treatment. But, because the unknown sixty year old’s throat was so severely slashed – so savagely attacked – that he was almost decapitated, he became fodder for Facebook. Scripted drama and realty T.V. step aside. Real life drama is coming to social networks.
Let’s face it. Facebook, 500 Million strong, is the place where we converse with our friends, families and colleagues on a daily and, for some, every moment of the day. Email for the under 30s has become a dying form of communication. Why email your friends when they’re all on your Facebook feed? People can post their comments, photos, videos and soon their location as on FourSquare – wih Facebook Place. For all the talk of privacy, it’s that which we continue to giveaway voluntarily.
But, when it comes to the medical profession, patients, privacy, HIPAA and our PHI (personal health information) we need to take a step back. Privacy of information cannot be ensured on such sites as Facebook and other social sites. Even Facebook notes there is risked involved in sharing information through their site, as noted in their Privacy Policy: “We cannot ensure that information you share on Facebook will not become publicly available.”
For many hospitals, like the Mayo Clinic, which is expanding their presence on social network sites, it also means taking stronger steps to safeguard patient privacy. Creating awareness among staffers and establishing guidelines for them to follow.
Engaging on Social Networks
Venturing out into the social world means responsibility must be taken in the medical community more than anywhere else. Develop your moral and ethical guidelines that will keep everyone safe, happy and engaged in a way that will help all of us.
Guidelines should be delivered for all staff – not just those that deal with social channels on an official basis. The CDC has “tools” for their staff that covers microblogging, text messaging, virtual world guidelines and YouTube and online video guidelines.
The Guidelines should cover activity related to both personal and official medical practice/hospital accounts (such as personal accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace), as well as any comments and/or content staff post to blogs and other social sites.
Some examples:
Comments on Blogs, etc.
Keep in mind too that there should also be guidelines for patients and visitors to your social channels that may want to leave comments on your organization’s website, blog(s), and social sites. Let people understand what is expected and what will not be tolerated (i.e. vulgar language, patient names, etc.)
The following are two good examples of such guidelines:
Five Basic Social Media and Policy Guidelines that should be included in any guidelines for employees:
- Follow the HIPAA, Conflict of Interest Policy, Privacy and general civil behavior guidelines that may already be in place, including respecting copyrights and disclosures, and not revealing proprietary financial, intellectual property, patient care or similar sensitive or private content.
- If a staffer identifies themselves as a member of the MEDICAL PRACTICE or staff in any online forum and/or uses their practice email address, the staffer should make it clear that they are not speaking for the practice, and what they say is representative of their individual personal views and opinions and not necessarily the views and opinions of their employer.
- Remember that all content contributed on all platforms becomes immediately searchable and can be immediately shared. This content immediately leaves the contributing individual staff members’ control forever.
- The social media policy applies to personal activity and/or professional activity that are not part of the practices’ official communication, and where you identify yourself as a practice’s employee, either through a bio, comments, or by using your practice’s email address. The following disclaimer should be added whenever you identify yourself as part of the practice while not officially acting on behalf of the practice: “The views expressed on this [blog; website] are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.”
- Use a personal email address (not the company address) as your primary means of identification. Just as you would not use the medical practice stationery for a letter to the editor with your personal views, do not use your medical practice e-mail address for personal views.
Healthcare Social Media Policy List
- Children’s Hospital Los Angeles - Social Media Policy
- University of Maryland Medical Center – Comments Policy and Blog Participation Terms and Conditions
- Mayo Clinic – For Mayo Clinic Employees
- Mayo Clinic – Participation Guidelineshildren’s Hospital Los Angeles – Share Your Story – Use and Access
- Sutter Health – Policy for Social Networking and Other Web-Based Communications
- Affinity Health System and Ministry Health Care – Social Media Policy and Employee Guidance
- Kaiser Permanente – Employee Social Media Policy
- LeBonheur Children’s Medical Center – Blog Comments Policy
- M.D. Anderson Cancer Center – Blog Policies and Guidelines for the Public
- Sutter Health – Guidelines for Participation in Online Communities
Other Resources
- Social Media: Embracing the Opportunities, Averting the Risks
A research study presented by Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law – the main focus is Health Care - Social Media Governance
Database of 104 Social Media Policies across all major industries – recommended
Sourced from Found in Cache
Twitter Updates
Written by Rico Figliolini
Topics: Facebook, Featured, Healthcare, Social Networks, Twitter