HCP Buzz has developed the following Health Care Social Media Guidelines based on the recommendations of the AMA, CDC, AAFP and several other medical organizations.
If you are a physician and follow these simple guidelines, you will be safe! Enjoy the world of social media!
Social Media Guidelines for Health
Care Professionals
The Internet has
created a venue for health care professionals (HCPs) to engage their patients
and the larger community to rapidly exchange information. Social media, in
particular, presents new opportunities for HCPs to widely disseminate public
health messages and other health communication as well as foster collegial discussion
and camaraderie within the profession. Social networks, blogs and other forms
of communication online also create new challenges to the HCP-patient relationship.
To that end, it
is our recommendation that you implement the following principles to protect
the integrity of your practice through all online activities:
- Be professional!
- Place HIPAA
compliance above all!
- Remember that the Internet
is forever!
- Maintain proper
patient boundaries!
- Educate, don’t
treat!
- Don’t shirk your ethical
responsibilities!
1. BE PROFESSIONAL! Use good judgment
and be accurate and honest in all communications, online or otherwise; errors, omissions, unprofessional language or inappropriate behavior
reflect badly on your practice and may result in liability.
o Be aware that you represent your profession
and promote the humanistic values identified as congruent with medical
professionalism.
o
Be honest, forthright, helpful,
and compassionate.
o
Offer help, answer questions, and
suggest resources when you are able to do so.
o
Be open to contact from others
and participate in discussions when time allows.
2. PLACE HIPAA
COMPLIANCE ABOVE ALL! Be
cognizant of the standards of patient privacy and confidentiality that must be maintained
in all environments (including online) and refrain from posting
identifiable patient information online.
o
A preferred option to discussing
a specific case is offering a broader perspective or discussion on the topic.
o
In the extreme circumstance that
online discussion of a patient’s illness or personal information is required,
prior to posting, consult with your superiors.
o
ADDITIONALLY:
§ Do not discuss any patient’s illnesses, medical conditions or personal
information online without obtaining the patient’s express written permission
to share their information.
§ Any posting that includes patient information must include clear text
indicating that the patient has given expressed written permission to the
poster to discuss their situation.
3. REMEMBER THAT THE INTERNET
IS FOREVER! Use
privacy settings to safeguard personal information and content to the extent
possible. You must realize that privacy settings are not absolute and
that once content is on the Internet, it is likely to remain there permanently.
Presume that content posted online cannot be removed.
o
Routinely monitor your own
Internet presence to ensure that personal and professional information on your own
sites and, to the extent possible, content posted about you by others, is
accurate and appropriate.
o
Recognize that your online
actions and posted content may negatively affect your reputation among patients
and colleagues. This may lead to adverse consequences for your medical career and
may undermine public trust in the medical profession.
o
You should assume that NOTHING posted
online is actually private, including direct messages and emails; therefore only
post information with the assumption that all comments are public.
4. MAINTAIN PROPER
PATIENT BOUNDARIES! When
interacting with patients on the Internet, maintain appropriate boundaries of
the HCP-patient relationship, in accordance with professional ethical
guidelines, just as you would in any other context.
o
Maintain separate personal and
professional social media accounts to ensure appropriate professional
boundaries.
o
It is not acceptable to
communicate with patients via personal social media or email accounts.
5. EDUCATE, DON’T
TREAT! Use social media to share up-to-date medical
information that promotes quality health care.
o DO NOT practice medicine via social media.
§ Do not provide any individual, specific medical care or medical advice
via social media.
§ You should not directly reply, comment or contact patients who have
disclosed their treatments or conditions on public websites such as WebMD,
Facebook, Twitter, etc.
o Address those societal needs that you think are most
important or that motivate you.
§ It is acceptable to provide links to already available online resources
for people to review and to aid in making their own decisions as to how to
proceed with any medical issue.
§ Focusing on issues that are relevant to you will make it easier to stay
motivated to sustain the efforts needed to consistently follow these best
practices.
o
Do not “Like”,
“+1”, etc using your professional accounts. Posts and
comments should be written responses to a specific topic, not products or
companies. “Like’s” and “+1s” can be construed as promoting or endorsing and
can pose potential legal challenges.
6. DON’T SHIRK YOUR ETHICAL
RESPONSIBILITY! You have
an ethical responsibility to bring information regarding unprofessional content
posted by colleagues to the attention of the individual so that the content can
be removed or other appropriate actions can be taken. If the behavior
violates rules of professional conduct and/or the individual does not take
appropriate action to resolve the situation, you should report the matter to
your superiors and the appropriate authorities immediately.
