LEGAL UPDATE
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O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4
Many of the issues that arise in the social media realm involve the con-
fidentiality of patient information, chief among them the posting of
photographs. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
aims to shield individually identifiable health information that is held
or transmitted by providers, in any form or media, from public expo-
sure. Any photos (or other social media communications) in which a
patient could be identified fall under these guidelines; state privacy
laws may also apply.
HIPAA permits physician-to-physician communication of protected
information for treatment purposes without patient authorization, but
the lines of communication must be secure. Providers must always be
aware of, and are responsible for, the safety and security of the sites
in which they participate and must ensure any online discussion of a
patient's information is compliant with HIPAA and applicable state
laws.
According to the Federation of State Medical Boards' guidelines on
social media use among providers (
tinyurl.com/oagvc49
), issued in 2012,
"physicians may discuss their experiences in non-clinical settings, [but]
they should never provide any information that could be used to identify
patients. Physicians should never mention patients' room numbers, refer
to them by code names or post their pictures."
Another social media concern involves the possibility that patients
who have had less-than-optimal experiences at your facility or with
your physicians and staff may post negative comments on your sites.
Disgruntled patients are inevitable in any service-oriented field, medi-
cine included, and cannot be completely silenced. An awareness of
the workings of the sites in which you participate, however, such as
the ability to block posts by unauthorized individuals or to filter what
appears, could limit the impact of these comments.
