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S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 | 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
LEGAL UPDATE
D
rafting and implementing a social media policy for your facility
and employees can help to foster a culture of compliance with
legal and ethical standards. Your policy, which you should period-
ically update to reflect changes in technology, should at minimum:
• complement HIPAA and your state's privacy protection rules;
• define the social media applications at issue, so your employees
know the policy's reach and in what
situations it is in effect;
• designate a social media officer who
has the exclusive ability to access
the facility's or practice's accounts,
add content or make changes, and
monitor potential privacy concerns;
• list examples of acceptable social
media uses;
• set ground rules for permissible electronic communications with cur-
rent or prospective patients; and
• establish disciplinary responses for infractions.
Many social media policies also include provisions that prohibit
employees from disparaging their employer, under pain of termination.
But the National Labor Relations Board, which has recently turned its
attention to social media policies, holds that employees have a right to
engage in "concerted activity" for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing or to improve working conditions and/or terms of employment, and
that it is protected speech, even in social media. Consult with qualified
legal counsel to make sure that your social media policy is enforce-
able, and not a potential liability.
— Neda M. Ryan, JD
MAKE IT ENFORCEABLE
Your Social Media Policy
Disparaging your
employer in social
media is considered
protected speech,
even in social media.
