Social Media Guidelines

Email from 2.26.20

Team,

I am writing to share some important information about using Social Media with our team. While I am certain that none of you need reminding about HIPAA compliance in general, please carefully review and consider the following guidelines.  

Based on a review of the literature and a conversation with an attorney who specializes in social media, I have learned that simply adhering to HIPAA guidelines does not offer complete protection to the provider who wishes to discuss an interesting case online. Patients have recently been able to litigate successfully claims that their reasonable expectation of confidentiality was violated when they discovered that a version of their “healthcare story” had been shared on a social media platform. Additionally, organizations were able to successfully win cases concerning copyright violations that were only intended to be “friendly” advice sharing. Finally, there are very real malpractice implications when colleagues publicly criticize medical practice that can be generally or specifically linked to an organization, provider, or patient.

In the interest of protecting you and the rest of our great team, please observe the following standards:

• Recognize that there is both an ethical and legal obligation to maintain patient privacy and confidentiality. 

• Sharing of images on social media, even with patient information removed, is not protected. Without express written consent, both you and TAUC are open to liability even if shared in a so-called “private” social media platform.   

• Content is still accessible even after it has been deleted. If posting something gives you pause, don’t do it.

• Referring to a patient by a nickname, room number, diagnosis, or condition is considered a breach of confidentiality.  

• Consider copyright laws before posting someone else’s materials. It is critical that all employees abide by copyright laws and ensure that they have permission to use or reproduce any copyrighted text, photos, graphics, video, or other material owned by others.

• Professionalism is key. TAUC has high standards of performance and asks our teams to utilize good judgment.  When your connection to TAUC is apparent, please be clear and mindful of our Mission so that you represent TAUC and yourself well. 

• Blogs, websites, and pages created for your own purposes should include a disclaimer.   Consider language such as “The views expressed on this (blog, website, page) are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.” This language provides no additional protection to you nor does it invalidate any other guideline on this list.

• Creation of any social media for the purposes of discussing TAUC or areas related to TAUC must be approved by your leadership team. Dr. Dinkel and I are happy to discuss any idea and always eager to implement genuine improvements.

• Proprietary information is covered in all of our contracts. Do not disclose any confidential or proprietary information of or about TAUC, its vendors, or suppliers, including but not limited to business and financial information.

• Witnessing and not reporting violations creates both culpability in a legal case and casts a shadow on your reputation. Be careful. There have been successful lawsuits where providers were witness to confidentiality breaches and did not report them.

The bottom line is that we want to protect both you and our patients.