HIPAA and Social Media: The Good, Bad and Ugly

Oh Internet. You hold so many possibilities. Booking hotel rooms for our vacations, staying in touch with friends and colleagues and researching anything that interests us. For each wonderful thing you offer, you also provide us the tools to interfere with and sometimes destroy our careers. You see, Internet, we are bound as healthcare professionals by this thing called HIPAA. And when it comes to HIPAA and social media, sometimes while we are on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, simple emails and others, we trip up and post things that violate privacy and security rules. What to do?

Refresher on HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is something we have all known about for some time. It protects health insurance coverage for workers when they change or lose their job. It also establishes privacy and security standards for healthcare information. It consists of 4 rules:

• Privacy Rule
• Security Rule
• Breach Notification Rule
• Patient Safety Rule

The Privacy Rule provides federal protections for individually identifiable health information held by providers of healthcare services. It also provides patient’s rights to their health information. The Privacy Rule is considered balanced because it permits disclosure of health information that is needed for patient care and other important purposes.

Most social media violations breach both the Privacy and Security Rules. Most time, the healthcare professional doesn’t realize he or she is violating these rules. HIPAA violations cost individuals and businesses billions of dollars annually. Many violations involve mishandling patient, client or resident files. There are more and more violations resulting from healthcare employees making poor choices and decisions on social networks. Facebook, Twitter and other social media blur the lines between our personal and professional lives.

What is Social Media?

Social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, blogs such as Twitter, content communities like YouTube, virtual game worlds and collaborative projects are all considered types of social media. These all provide interaction among people in online communities and networks. People can create, share and exchange information, ideas, photos and videos. A part of social media involves providing lots of your own personal information such as a profile, your friends, groups you belong to, and saved discussions. While there are many benefits of social media such as networking with other professionals, building new relationships, staying connected with friends, and educating yourself and others, there are many risks.

Risks and Negative Consequences of Social Media

You can get lots of inaccurate and damaging information online and this kind of information travels quickly to a very broad audience. Unfortunately, sometimes misinformation becomes fact. Anyone can post anything online, and some of it may look pretty believable.

Putting any patient, client or resident information is very dangerous. Careers can be destroyed. By crossing this ethical boundary, you can wipe out trust and professionalism. Never share information about specific patients, even if you do not reveal names. Medical communities are small places and someone can pick up clues concerning who you are talking about. Never post photos or patient, clients or residents.

Many people may want to be your friend online, including your patients. Refrain from online contact with them. Professionals cannot be friends with people they care for, because you have crossed the ethical line. Never make negative or disparaging remarks about your coworkers, administration, management or the company. Everyone has access to what you post. Even if you don’t identify them specifically, it’s not a smart move. It is also unwise to talk about specific conditions or treatments, because again, the medical community is small and lots of people may know what you are talking about.

HIPAA and Social Media: Final Thoughts

It is best to separate your professional life from your personal life just to play it safe. Watch the “tone” of your language online, as people may misinterpret it. Never post anything that you wouldn’t want to see on tonight’s news or newspaper headlines. Wait before responding to people if you are emotional about the content. Think for a while before responding. Don’t try to hide behind an anonymous name. Anonymity can lead to bad online behavior and may encourage you to post things you normally wouldn’t. And, for the love of it all… don’t post anything if you’ve been indulging in adult beverages!

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