Balancing Social Media and Patient Privacy in Healthcare
Maintaining the privacy of patients’ protected health information (PHI) is one of the most significant concerns related to social media use in healthcare. At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services governs the privacy and security of PHI under HIPAA regulations. States also may have laws related to the privacy and security of PHI, which might be more stringent than federal laws.
Because the boundaries between appropriate versus inappropriate and personal versus professional can easily blur on social media, managing privacy risks can be challenging. For example, numerous instances have occurred in which healthcare workers have posted confidential information about patients (including pictures) on professional or personal social media pages without the patients’ consent. Regardless of whether these actions were intentional or inadvertent, they violated confidentiality and the patients’ privacy rights.
In today’s technology-driven culture, it is unreasonable to expect healthcare workers to avoid social media, particularly when many healthcare organizations are using social platforms for marketing and educational purposes. Rather, organizational leaders can educate healthcare workers about social media risks, offer best practices, and implement reasonable social media policies. For example, consider the following recommendations:
- As part of your organization’s social media policies, prohibit or set limitations on the photographic use of cellphones and other portable electronic devices.
- Train staff members on HIPAA and state privacy laws, and educate them about the consequences of violating these laws. Provide real-life examples to illustrate intentional and inadvertent privacy breaches.
- Educate staff members about your organization’s social media policies and their rationale. Make sure they are aware of disciplinary actions that could result from social media violations, including suspension or termination.
- Advise staff members to keep their personal and professional social media activities separate. Remind them that they should apply the same ethical principles that govern their traditional patient encounters to their online interactions with patients, including privacy and confidentiality standards.
- Ask staff members to sign confidentiality agreements, and maintain a signed copy of the agreement in each employee’s personnel file.
- When posting content containing patient identifiable information to the organization’s social media sites, ensure patient consent is obtained. The consent should explicitly state how the organization is going to use the information. Have someone who is familiar with HIPAA and state privacy regulations review social media content to ensure information does not violate patient confidentiality.
- Make sure that staff members are aware that responding to a patient post or review on a social media site might violate HIPAA or state privacy laws. Learn more about managing negative online reviews from patients.
- Understand the technical limitations and terms and conditions of any social media sites that you plan to use. For example, information sent via messaging functions likely is not encrypted, and the site might maintain the right to access any personal information.
Addressing privacy and confidentiality concerns in organizational social media policies and implementing strategic safeguards can help protect patients and reduce liability exposure. For more information, see MedPro’s Risk Resources: Social Media in Healthcare.
