Social Media Issues in Healthcare; Legal, Risk Management, Confidentiality, Loss of Licensure, and more

This program will discuss when social media bites back in healthcare. It will include legal and risk management issues. Nurses, physicians, and other employees have lost their jobs and their licenses by violating confidentiality or professional boundaries and even received jail time. Every healthcare provider should listen to this program to find out what is permissible and what is not. It will include some legal and risk management implications for hospitals and other healthcare providers in their professional social media sites.

This program will discuss social media cases. It will discuss the National Council of State Board’s guide to social media for nurses.  The revised Federation of State Medical Boards policy, the AMA’s documents on professionalism in social media for physicians will be covered.

Legal and risk management issues in social media will be analyzed. Privacy issues and tips to minimize liability will be explored. Hospitals and other employers should maintain optimal policies on social media. The following will also be discussed; the FTC CAN-SPAM act, CDC social media toolkit, and Stored Communication Act.

• Discuss the healthcare practitioners who have been disciplined or terminated for violating confidentiality or professional boundaries when posting information about patients on social media
• Recall that the National Council on State Boards has a document called the “Nurses Guide to Social Media” that all nurses should be aware of 
• Describe that healthcare practitioners should be aware of their hospital or employer’s policy on social media
• Recall the Federation of State Medical Boards has a model policy guideline for social media that physicians should be aware of

• What is social media
• Social media website
• Social networking facts
• Legal Issues in Social Media
  • Privacy
  • Fire me… Make my day case
  • Test for concerted activity
  • Use of posts by others
  • Be careful what you say on Facebook cases
  • Follow employer policies
  • Employer policies should be specific
  • Federal Trade Commission
  • Discrimination and discoverability
  • Recommendations to minimize liability
  • Malpractice insurance cases
• 16 cases involving nurses and social media
• Hospital policy on social media
• Social media guidelines for hospitals and providers
• Joint Commission on texting orders
• Board of Nursing Guide to Social Media
• ANA 6 Tips for Nurses Using Social Media
• Federation of State Medical Board Policy
• AMA documents on Professionalism in Social Media
• CDC’s Social Media Toolkit
• FTC CAN-SPAM Act
• Stored Communication Act
• In Summary

Nurses, Physicians, Healthcare workers, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), risk managers, human resources, medical students, residents, interns, student nurses, healthcare staff, nurse educators, patient safety officers, compliance officers, and any healthcare person who uses social media.