Social Media: Boon or Boondoggle for Health Care Professionals? (original) (raw)
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PM&R, 2013
Social networking sites (SNS) are now part of everyday life, and SNSs such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are among the most accessed Web sites on the Internet. Although SNSs are primarily used for staying in touch with friends and family, they are increasingly being used for health-related purposes for a variety of conditions, including concussion awareness. As health interventions begin to be more commonly provided through SNSs (particularly Facebook), ethical issues have been raised with regard to confidentiality, privacy, and trust; these issues need to be addressed. This article outlines some of the key considerations when providing a concussion intervention through Facebook and discusses potential solutions to these issues.
Use of Social Media in Health Care—Opportunities, Challenges, and Ethical Considerations
Neurology, 2021
The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) 1 formalizes the standards of professional behavior for AAN members. The CPC provides the ethical principles and professional standards that neurologists and other neuroscience professionals should or must observe in their clinical and scientific activities. While ethical principles do not change with time, developments in technology and social structure may lead to a change in how these principles are applied. One such technological development is social media-a class of communication tools that has rapidly grown in number and popularity in recent years. The AAN developed this position statement to review in-depth how social media use has transformed clinical practice, with a particular focus on neurologic practice, and, by exploring the relevant principles in the CPC, 1 to provide an ethical framework for neurology professionals and trainees to consider when engaging in social media. This statement complements the CPC; it is not a replacement for the AAN Web site's Code of Conduct, Privacy Policy, or Terms of Service.
Social Media and Medical Professionalism
Archives of Internal Medicine, 2012
A surge of interest in debating the uses of social networking media-blogs and microblogs (Twitter), social net working sites (Facebook, Myspace), and content sharing sites (YouTube, Flickr)-is occurring among medical associations, medical educators, and researchers. 1 Despite emerging studies that suggest benefits of social media to enhance medical practice, the published literature remains dominated by strong concerns about its perceived abuses. These social media risks are typically framed in worries about medical pro fessionalism, and social media use is discussed as a matter of professional ethics. Two examples of this framing are the new teaching modules focusing on avoiding risky behavior 2 and the codes of "eprofessionalism" 3 that are proliferating in medical schools and hospitals.
Ethical and legal perspectives on the medical practitioners use of social media
South African Medical Journal, 2017
This open-access article is distributed under Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC 4.0. Use of social media has increased exponentially throughout the world. Social media provides a platform for building social and professional relationships that can be used by all, including healthcare professionals. Alongside the benefits of creating networks and spreading information wider and faster than is possible with traditional communication channels, however, it presents ethical and legal challenges. For health professionals, it poses a threat to confidentiality and privacy owed to patients, colleagues and employers. It is vital for health professionals to acknowledge that the same ethical and legal standards apply both online and offline, and that they are accountable to professional bodies and the law for their online activities. This article seeks to explore the ethical and legal pitfalls facing health professionals using social media platforms. Importantly, it seeks to create awareness about the cyberpsychology phenomenon called the 'online disinhibition effect' , responsible for lowering restraint during online activities.
Journal of Primary Health Care, 2013
INTRODUCTION: Social networking sites (SNSs) are increasingly being used for health-related purposes. Many patients now use sites such as Facebook to discuss symptoms, seek support, and search for advice on health conditions, including concussion. Innovative methods of delivering health information using these technologies are starting to emerge and it is important to seek the input of key stakeholder groups (including general practitioners) to establish their feasibility and to highlight areas of concern. AIM: This study aimed to seek the opinions of general practitioners towards the use of SNSs in concussion management. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were captured with a digital voice recorder and analysed using interpretative description methodology. Participants were general practitioners whose caseload included persons with a concussion between the ages of 16 and 30 years, and who had treated a patient with a concussion in the past 12 months. FINDINGS: The clinical experience of the participants ranged from 3 to 35 years and 50% of the participants had a Facebook account themselves. While all participants were positive towards the use of SNSs for this purpose, concerns were raised regarding the issues of privacy and moderation. CONCLUSION: SNSs, particularly Facebook, have the potential (if correctly utilised) to be a viable adjunct to traditional concussion management programmes. In order for SNSs to be successfully used in this manner, the quality of information shared needs to be accurate and patients using them need to ensure that they get adequate cognitive rest.
Family Physicians’ Sharing of Personal Information on Facebook
British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research, 2013
Aims: Online social networks, such as Facebook, are growing in popularity amongst physicians, and represent a potential avenue for the compromising of their privacy and professional boundaries. We sought to determine the extent to which family doctors are sharing personal information on Facebook. Study Design:Observational. Place and Duration of Study:Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Data was collected between May and August of 2012. Methodology:From the website of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, all 1000 family physicians active in the Ottawa region were identified. A database was then created of subjects’ publicly shared information (i.e., information available to the general public) for those with accessible profiles on Facebook. Chi square and t-tests were performed to explore demographic patterns for those with viewable profiles; binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with Facebook visibility. Results:While only 10.2% of family physicians had publiclyviewable profiles, 81.4% of those featured a visible profile photo; 91.2% couldbe messaged directly by any member of the public; a majority shared limited personal information, including recent online activities and place of education; 24% shared theirplace of work; 15% had visible lists of family members; and 14% disclosed their relationship status. From logistic regression, there were no significant factors associated with whether a physician was viewable on Facebook. Conclusion:While a minority of physicians have a publicly accessible Facebook profile, those that do are sharing personal information that may expose them to unwanted intrusions into their personal lives and unexpected patient interactions outside of the office. Physicians should be aware of options for making their online information less publicly accessible.
Major concerns about privacy have limited health professionals' usage of popular social networking sites such as Facebook. However, the landscape of social media is changing in favor of more sophisticated privacy controls that enable users to more carefully manage public and private information. This evolution in technology makes it potentially less hazardous for health professionals to consider accepting colleagues and patients into their online networks, and invites medicine to think constructively about how social media may add value to contemporary healthcare.
Dangers and Opportunities for Social Media in Medicine
Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2013
Health professionals have begun using social media to benefit patients, enhance professional networks, and advance understanding of individual and contextual factors influencing public health. However, discussion of the dangers of these technologies in medicine has overwhelmed consideration of positive applications. This article summarizes the hazards of social media in medicine and explores how changes in functionality on sites like Facebook may make these technologies less perilous for health professionals. Finally, it describes the most promising avenues through which professionals can use social media in medicine-improving patient communication, enhancing professional development, and contributing to public health research and service.
Social media and Internet usage of orthopaedic surgeons
Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma, 2016
Social media has evolved as a new communication tool for health information and its usage is increasing rapidly each day worldwide. 1,2 The effects of this virtual/online relationship on clinical practice and patient-physician relationship have long been of interest. 3 The media dimension reduces uncertainties between individuals in face-to-face interaction whereas the social dimension enables greater self-expression and control of the impressions that others form of them. 4 Social media offers enhanced interpretation and immediate spread of visual or written content shared online, 5 which caused changes in the nature and velocity of the communication between patients and physicians, resulting in the frequent use of social media to resolve health problems. 2 A study in Australia reported that 69.7% of physicians discussed online information sources through the internet or social media and Facebook was reported to be the most commonly used social media tool in England. 2,6 These rapidly improving communication technologies offer many advantages for patients and physicians. On the other hand, communication over social media or internet transforms the traditional patient-physician relationship, makes the boundaries of ethical liability vague and makes patient privacy increasingly difficult to protect. 7,8 This study attempts to identify orthopaedists usage and views of social media and