Social Media and Medical Professionalism

Social Media and
Medical Professionalism
Iris Thiele Isip Tan MD, Msc
Chief, Medical Informatics Unit
Professor 3, UP College of Medicine
Social Media Class by mkhmarketing, https://ﬂic.kr/p/e1HpQq
31 July 2015
Presentation at PGH PA meeting

Heroes: M by Frederic Poirot
https://ﬂic.kr/p/wGjzG
Facebook by Dimitris Kalogeropoylos,
https://ﬂic.kr/p/8kvsXB
Social media
policy
#HealthXPH
#SoMe
manifesto
Online
Medical
professionalism

... a new frontier in medicine
as physicians and patients
become more connected
Ann Intern Med 2013;158:620-627

What are our commitments?
Online Medical
professionalism
Heroes: M by Frederic Poirot
https://ﬂic.kr/p/wGjzG

Medical Professionalism in
the New Millennium:
A Physician Charter
Ann Intern Med 2002;136(3):243-6
Patient welfare
Patient autonomy
Social justice hospital corridor 2 by Pam Roth
http://www.freeimages.com/photo/65904

Maintaining trust in the profession and in
patient-physician relationships requires
that physicians consistently apply ethical
principles for preserving the
relationship, conﬁdentiality, privacy
and respect for persons to online
settings and communications.
Position 1
Ann Intern Med 2013;158:620-627
Online Medical Professionalism: Patient and Public
Relationships: Policy Statement from the American College of
Physicians and the Federation of State Medical Boards

The New York Times
Commitment to
honesty with patients
Gholami-Kordkheili F, Wild V, Strech D. J Med Internet Res 2013;15(8):e184
Managing disclosure of
additional patient information
that a physician gathered online

In the meantime, I’m going to ask Dr. E. to change his
privacy settings so the nice robots at Facebook can’t
make the connection between us - or at least they won’t
tell me about it if they do. That way, I can stop thinking
about his personal life and get our sessions back to what
they should be, which is all about me.
“ Steven Petrow, www.washingtonpost.com

To what extent should
patients’ potential access to
online information shape
psychiatrists’ use of social
media?
Appelbaum P & Kopelman A.
Social media’s challenges for psychiatry
World Psychiatry 2014;13(1):21-23
Disclosure of patient-
related information even when
patients are not directly identified,
can raise doubts among the public
about the privacy of their medical
interaction.
selfie_stick by Ton Schulten, https://flic.kr/p/q8ppyD
[25/365] On the couch (Explored) by Pascal, https://flic.kr/p/8DVMLy

Negative comments about the
healthcare system in general or a
particular facility can shake
patients’ trust and deter them
from seeking care.
Appelbaum P & Kopelman A.
World Psychiatry 2014;13(1):21-23
Content showing doctors
“behaving badly” may call clinical
judgment into question, raising
doubts in patients’ minds about
the quality of the treatment they
will receive.
[25/365] On the couch (Explored) by Pascal, https://ﬂic.kr/p/8DVMLy
Online news by Mike Licht, https://ﬂic.kr/p/7XkhM7

Reasonable self-disclosure of
health care providers in
social media
Commitment to maintaining
appropriate relations with patients
Gholami-Kordkheili F, Wild V, Strech D.
J Med Internet Res 2013;15(8):e184

Individuals whose presence among a
psychiatrist’s friends becomes known (eg, via a
wall post) are revealing their connection to the
psychiatrist and other friends may surmise than
an individual is a patient.
A beautiful friendship by Viktor Hertz, https://ﬂic.kr/p/9oUtHV
“ Mossman D & Farrell H. Facebook: Social networking
meets professional duty. www.currentpsychiatry.com

The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
Position Statement 75 Aug 2012
Psychiatrists should understand all the privacy
settings for all social media applications that
they use, and apply the strictest settings when
posting personal information.
Facebook & privacy by Tim Wayne, https://ﬂic.kr/p/9qZKm4
“

Information
Relationships, religious
views, home address & tel.
no. may be readily viewable
to the general public and
patients
Photos
Intoxication, sexually
explicit material, risk-taking
behavior
Wall posts
Blatant comments about
patients, disgruntlement
with institution or
supervisors
Mossman D & Farrell H. Facebook: Social networking
meets professional duty. www.currentpsychiatry.com
Security settings
Lack of privacy restrictions
“Friends”
Friending patients and
supervisors
“Like”
“Liking” groups that
contain pornographic
material or other
controversial topics
Facebook Errors:
What to Avoid

Names
Geographic information
Dates (e.g. birth date, admission
date, discharge date, date of death)
Telephone numbers
Fax numbers
Email addresses
Social security numbers
Medical record numbers
Health plan beneficiary numbers
Account numbers
Certificate/license numbers
Vehicle identifiers and serial numbers,
including license plate numbers
Device identifiers and serial numbers
URLs
IP address numbers
Biometric identifiers (e.g. finger and
voice prints)
Full-face photographic images & any
comparable images
Other unique identifying numbers,
characteristics or codesCommitment to patient
confidentiality
photo
redacted

The boundaries between professional
and social spheres can blur online.
Physicians should keep the spheres
separate and comport themselves
professionally in both.
Position 2
Ann Intern Med 2013;158:620-627

Dealing with social media as a source for
(third-party) misunderstanding and
misinterpretation
Commitment to patient
confidentiality
Gholami-Kordkheili F, Wild V, Strech D. J
Med Internet Res 2013;15(8):e184
photo
redacted

Email or other electronic communication
should only be used by physicians in an
established patient-physician
relationship and with patient consent.
Documentation about patient care
communications should be included in the
patient’s medical record.
Position 3
Ann Intern Med 2013;158:620-627

Physicians should consider periodic
“self-auditing” to assess the
accuracy of information available
about them on physician-ranking
websites and other sources online.
Position 4
Ann Intern Med 2013;158:620-627

The reach of the Internet and online
communications is far and often
permanent. Physicians, trainees and
medical students should be aware that
online postings may have
future implications for
their professional lives.
Position 5
Ann Intern Med 2013;158:620-627

Facilitating continuing
education for post-graduates/
clinicians
Committing to lifelong learning
supported by social media
www.webicina.com

Paris
June 4-5, 2015Berci at Doctors 2.0 & You

Accessing news/
information from
professional
organizations
Commitment to
Professional Competence

Improvement in learning
patterns
@DrHWoo
#urojc
Committing to lifelong learning
supported by social media

Let’s do this!
isiptan@endocrine-witch.net
Facebook by Dimitris Kalogeropoylos, https://ﬂic.kr/p/8kvsXB
Social media policy

AO No. CMBA-2014–092
Guidelines for Posting Materials on Website and Social Media
When uploading visuals
When posting/reposting/sharing links
When updating status/writing banners

Share links or articles that come from credible sources or
established groups or organizations with track record, whether
in media, health professional societies or health organizations or
institutions (e.g. CNN, BBC, ABS-CBN, GMA for media; DOH, PCHRD for health orgs
and WHO, PCP for health professional societies) to uphold the credibility of the
article.

For our purposes, the following are not considered credible sources: blogs,
FB posts or other self-authored sites and research articles without citations;
websites without an author or which are not by a government entity or health
organization, materials published 15 or more years ago.

Health advisories/tips for uploading must come from our own
experts (i.e. graduates/alumni, ofﬁcials, faculty members, doctors, nurses, dentists,
pharmacists, therapists, public health professionals); please coordinate with the
concerned departments of UPCM/PGH and those of the colleges
for advisory requests on a particular health problem or disorder.

Please refrain from including data or information
that are for internal use only.
Refrain from using informal/colloquial words in
addressing the community; construct sentences
or phrases in formal and straight English.
Remember to always use politically correct and
gender sensitive terms.
Guidelines for Posting Materials
on Website and Social Media
http://dcharmedone.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/what-is-jejemon/

Data Privacy Act
of 2012
The unauthorized processing
of personal sensitive
information shall be penalized
by imprisonment ranging from
3 y to 6 y and a ﬁne of not less
than P500,000 but not more
than P4,000,000 (maximum
penalty if at least 100 persons
harmed)

Data Privacy Act
of 2012
Access due to negligence
Improper disposal
Unauthorized purposes
Unauthorized access or
intentional breach
Concealment of security
breach
Malicious disclosure
Unauthorized disclosure

Suggested Elements of Social Media Policies
Jeff Cain, Am J Health-Syst Pharm 2011;68:1036-40.
Reputation of
organization
Deﬁne who is permitted to speak on
behalf of the organization
Privacy
Should not reveal private information
about patients
Productivity
Personal use is permissible only
during non-work hours
General
State that organizational policies are
applicable to social media
communications
Playbricks 3 by Paul Preacher,
http://www.freeimages.com/photo/205911

1. Follow all applicable Mayo Clinic policies.
2. Write in the ﬁrst person. Where your connection to Mayo
Clinic is apparent, make it clear that you are speaking for yourself
and not on behalf of Mayo clinic.
Disclaimer: “The views expressed on this [blog; website] are my own and do
not reﬂect the views of my employer.”

3. If you identify your afﬁliation to Mayo Clinic, your social
media activities should be consistent with Mayo’s high
standards of professional conduct.
4. If you communicate in the public internet about Mayo
clinic or Mayo Clinic-related matters, you must disclose
your connection with Mayo clinic and your role at Mayo.

5. Be professional, use good judgement and be accurate
and honest in your communications; errors, omissions or
unprofessional language or behavior reﬂect poorly on Mayo, and
may result in liability for you or Mayo clinic. Be respectful and
professional to fellow employees, business partners, competitors
and patients.

6. Ensure that your social media activity does not interfere
with your work commitments.
7. Mayo Clinic strongly discourages “friending”of patients
on social media websites. Staff in patient care roles generally should
not initiate or accept friend requests except in unusual circumstances such
as the situation where an in-person friendship pre-dates the treatment
relationship.

8. Mayo Clinic discourages staff in management/
supervisory roles from initiating “friend” requests with
employees they manage. Managers/supervisors may accept
friend requests if initiated by the employee, and if the manager/
supervisor does not believe it will negatively impact the work
relationship.

Ensuring public trust while
engaging on social media
platforms
Commitment to
professional responsibilities
Don’t lie. Don’t pry.
Don’t cheat. Can’t delete.
Don’t steal. Don’t reveal.
A 12-word Social Media Policy
Farris Timimi, Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media
If it’s on the Internet, it isn’t private by DonkeyHotey,
https://ﬂic.kr/p/9RYZvc

Ethics of Clinical
Photography & Social Media
Med Health Care & Philos
Feb 2015;18(1):63-7
Primary use:
For patient’s care
Secondary use:
For medical education & research
photo
redacted

Social Media and Medical Professionalism

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