Love
it or hate it, social media is a fact of life. It can be a great means
for medical practices to raise awareness, educate, and engage patients.
In light of the horror stories, there is a temptation for
practices to construct a "defensive" policy focused solely on
restricting staff use of social media; essentially "What you don't say
can't hurt us." Instead, you should seek a balance that not only
protects patient privacy and discourages public relations gaffes, but
also allows those who know your practice best — its staff — to show
pride in their work and promote it. Designing a good social media policy
for your practice can tip that balance to the positive.
Here are some ways to help you get there:
1. Keep it simple. Staff will view a policy that is too long and tries to cover everything negatively — if it's read at all.
Further, because social media is constantly evolving, too much
specificity will virtually guarantee your policy will quickly become
obsolete.
2. Be clear about your goals. To provide context
for your social media policy, put the focus on what you are trying to
accomplish. These goals may be things such as maintaining patient
confidentiality, compliance with applicable laws and regulations,
protecting the practice from negative outcomes, enhancing the practice's
professional image, and ensuring a productive and focused workplace.
3. Don't reinvent the wheel. There are many easily adaptable, great policies available online. You can find many examples here and can even view policies by professional sector, including healthcare of course.
4. Get beyond the "thou shalt not." See the
positive as well as the negative. Don't be so afraid of the worst-case
disaster that you stop staff from telling your practice's story. The
average adult Facebook user has about 300 friends, meaning that even in a
small practice you could easily reach thousands of people with a
positive message. Imagine someone saying, "I'd love to tell my Facebook
friends about the money we raised at the local charity event, but our
social media policy won't allow us to post on work-related topics."
5. Don't just dictate, educate.
Beyond the policy itself, staff may need help in thinking through how
this all works "in real life." Again, there already are some great
resources to give you a running start on this. One example is "A Nurse's Guide to the Use of Social Media."
You can offer real examples and scenarios that help your staff
understand the repercussions on using social media to represent your
practice.
6. Listen and respond to feedback. This allows you
to not only hear concerns staff may have, but also get a sense whether
they understand your social media policy. Initial staff reaction to a
social media policy may not be warm and fuzzy. Most staff will easily
understand rules on using practice equipment and network connections for
personal use during the workday. However, you may get pushback on
"restrictions" outside of work time. Point out that HIPAA violations
hurt patients — and they can have negative legal consequences for not
only the practice, but also the individual staff member. Be upfront and
explain that your policy covers both staff social media activity at work
and off the clock. Respond to any concerns by communicating the
practice's expectations of staff professionalism, both on and off the
clock.
7. Back it up. Enforcement and sanctions may be
unpleasant, but they are an absolute necessity. Having a policy but not
enforcing it may be worse than no policy at all, since this sends staff
the message that you're not serious. It also can create liability for
the practice if you have a policy in place and make no effort to ensure
that it is followed. Your medical practice's sanctions for policy
violations — especially those involving HIPAA — should be documented and
consistently applied to all staff.
If you are successful, your social media policy and staff
education efforts will offer bright-line guidance prohibiting illegal or
unethical activity, while also encouraging staff to share their
successes at your practice. That is a win-win for patients, the
practice, and staff.
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