AMA Issues Social Media Guidelines

"Using social media can help physicians create a professional presence online, express their personal views and foster relationships, but it can also create new challenges for the patient-physician relationship," says Mary Anne McCaffree, M.D., an AMA board member. "The AMA's new policy outlines a number of considerations physicians should weigh when building or maintaining a presence online."

Privacy a Priority

• Be cognizant of standards of patient privacy and confidentiality that must be maintained;
• Use social networking privacy settings to safeguard personal information and content to the extent possible. But physicians should realize that "privacy settings are not absolute, and that once on the Internet, content is likely there permanently. Thus physicians should routinely monitor their own Internet presence to ensure the personal and professional information on their own sites, and, to the extent possible, content posted about them by others, is accurate and appropriate."
• Maintain appropriate boundaries of the patient-physician relationship when interacting with patients on the Internet "as they would in any other context;"
• Consider separating professional and personal content online;
• Notify colleagues if content they have posted online appears unprofessional, and if necessary, report the matter to authorities;
• Be aware that online content may negatively affect their reputations, have consequences for their medical careers and can undermine public trust in the medical profession.

Social Media Policies

A California hospital was in the headlines this summer when it fired five employees and disciplined another cause they used social media to post personal discussions about hospital patients.