Social Media In A Healthcare Setting: We Can But Dare We?

Social Media in a Healthcare Setting: We Can, but Dare We?

Amanda Toljanic

Chamberlain College of Nursing

Social Media in a Healthcare Setting: We Can, but Dare We? Imagine you are being treated for an acute illness in a hospital or healthcare setting. You had arrived at a hospital unconscious and were later informed of what occurred during your time while unconscious. Regardless of your background and regardless of the given illness, you are upset that you are in the hospital in the first place and you would like nothing more than to get better quickly to resume your daily life. After discharge, imagine hearing from a friend of a friend that your picture and/or story had been shared to a social media platform that hundreds of thousands

Sometimes using smart phones and social media in a healthcare setting can lead to a HIPAA violation. HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is something that needs to be addressed with caution and attention to detail. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), HIPAA was designed to advance the effectiveness and competency of the healthcare system as a whole. With growing technology, the government decided that they needed to adapt their standards to further protect private health information (Department of Human & Health Services, 2017). HHS created two HIPAA rules, the privacy rule and security rule. The privacy rule is focused on the protected health information and how it is used and disclosed while the security rule requires that healthcare professionals and facilities follow proper protocol to protect the private health information such as ensuring confidentiality of any protected health information (PHI) and ensuring compliance among the facility and healthcare professionals (HHS, 2013). For any violation of these HIPAA rules, the Office for Civil Rights can enforce a monetary penalty that can range from “$100-$50,000 or more per violation” (Department of Human & Health Services, 2013). HIPAA is a staple in the healthcare profession and it is the nurses job along with all other healthcare professionals to maintain the integrity of patients’ protected health

What is most important is that nurses and other healthcare professionals hold each other to the highest standard in maintaining patient’s privacy and their protected health information. As future nurses, we must act in professional and ethical manners at all times and keep our patients and our own best interests in mind. If an individual ever has to question whether something is appropriate or ethical, there is a chance that it is not and they should contact a supervisor for advice. One small lapse in judgement could lead to serious repercussions including losing a nursing license. However, not all social media use is bad and some may be beneficial in the workplace. These positive uses may be researching educational materials, looking up medications, and managing time or calculations as needed. Whenever a patient enters our healthcare setting, we should immediately be focused on their health, their safety, their privacy and rights, their improvement, and finally their discharge. Throughout their hospital stay or healthcare visit, the patient should never have to worry or question whether their health information is being protected and used only in a professional