Social Media And Health Care Organizations

Punjani, N. S., Bhanji, S. M., & Meghani, S. T. (2015). Implication of Social Media in Health Care Practice. International Journal Of Nursing Education, 7(2), 128-131 4p. doi:10.5958/0974-9357.2015.00089.6

“According to the Measuring the Information Society Report 2014 by the International Telecommunication Union, nearly 3,000 million people use the Internet, which is more than 40% of the world 's population (7,200 million). There are almost as many mobile-cellular subscriptions (6.9 billion) as people on Earth, more than three quarters of them (5.4 billion) in the developing world, and more than half (3.6 billion) in the Asia-Pacific region” (Fernández-Luque & Bau 2015). With the ever-increasing use of technology, it was only a matter of time before it was integrated in the way healthcare functions and communicates. This media is increasingly becoming a tool for supporting

Communication has been permanently changed by social media. A wide conceptual definition of social media, as cited in Ressler & Glazer (2010), is “The online and mobile accessible services that enable individuals to connect, collaborate, and share with others in real time.” Social media has an obvious influence on informal communication style and represents both possibility and liability for healthcare institutions. As cited in Bernhardt, Alber, & Gold (2014), “Social media provide healthcare professionals with tools to share information, to debate health care policy and practice issues, to promote health behaviors, to engage with the public, and to educate and interact with patients, caregivers, students, and colleagues.” It also presents challenges, including risks to information accuracy, organizational reputation, and individual privacy. Social media can be a very helpful in communicating among nurses and other healthcare providers while creating professional connections, and sharing experiences, but guidelines for appropriate use by healthcare providers are essential. Whether or not certain healthcare organization decides to use social media as a communications tool - social media policy still need to be implemented. Policies help establish an organization 's rules and expectations around social media.

Social media in hospitals can affect the patient as well as the nurse and the nursing student. Westrick states: “Nurses must find a balance between taking advantage of the benefits social media use

The objective of this study is to examine the importance of not sharing patient information through social media. According to the work of Adler (2011) many physicians are violating HIPAA and do not know it. Dimick (2010) writes that nurses at the Fargo, ND-based healthcare system in 2008 were using Facebook to "provide unauthorized shift change updates to their co-workers. What once would have been a conversation became an update on their personal Facebook pages. It was a convenient tool, because the nurses had "friended" each other through Facebook and thus could quickly read what each other wrote on their pages. They did not use patient names, but they did post enough specifics about patients so that the incoming nurses could prepare for their shift. The problem was that everyone else "friended" to their Facebook pages could also read the information." (p.1) The use of social media to talk about work "sharing sensitive patient or proprietary business information that same easy use and powerful reach broadcasts guarded information to large numbers of people." (Dimick, 2010, p.1) Release of information that is sensitive over social media can result in great harm to the reputation of an organization, violations of HIPAWA and ultimately result in "breach notifications and hefty fines." (Dimick, 2010, p.2) Dimick writes that Kaiser Permanente published "an organization-wide social media policy that explains appropriate staff

While using social media can be valuable to doctors and nurses, inappropriate use of these tools can be devastating to a health professional career. Here are some examples

Every day, more than a billion people worldwide use social networks. This habit has also invaded the workplaces and some research has established that four out of five employees use social networks for private purposes during working hours. Surprisingly, although this type of distraction can potentially harm the welfare of the organizations, no studies of this relationship have been made so far. In recent years, the phenomenon of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, is booming and occupies more space in the lives of individuals. So much so that interactions with these media are increasingly in the workplace, employers seeing the cause is often unproductive. Indeed, if a physician’s spends a lot of time surfing the Internet for personal

The increase of social media within the heath care system has benefited many patients but also has violated their privacy rights. This article tells a heartbreaking story of how workers across the nation are taking snapchats of their patients in the nursing home in a dehumanizing and violating way. Some cases have led to charges but most have not sadly. Posting photos of patients without their permission may violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act but some cases still are not brought to justice. There are many cases that have videos and pictures of the patients during vulnerable times and of them exposed or nude. Also, some for the videos found are of the workers playing tricks on them or of the patient singing or doing some thing funny. Sadly, abuse is not new to nursing homes but this form is. The responses of the family members of the victims have been field with frustration and sadness but they hope that the facilities will take this very seriously. Unfortunately, nursing homes rarely find the social media postings themselves and are found out by staff members or community members and it is difficult to tell if the incidents are increasing or decreasing. These situations bring into question of cell phone use on the job and how to prevent or regulate that.

Technology today has an easy access to direct communication. Social media is an effective way tool for nurses today, but with this resource comes great responsibility. As a nursing student I must maintain patient confidentiality and privacy at all times, as well as serving a positive representation of my institution. Nurses and nursing student are responsible for what they display on social media, and with this privilege comes consequences if not used appropriately. Social media has consequences amongst nurses such as federal legislation, privacy, laws and legal actions.

We live in a culture that is constantly inundated with streams of information through a variety of social mediums. Patients have unlimited access to an extensive variety of resources regarding medical care through online blogs, websites and social media. In 2009, 45.5% of adults utilized online resources to gain more information regarding their health (Women’s Health USA, 2012). Considering that statistic is antiquated, one would suspect the percentage to have grown significantly over the years with the increase in access to online resources. It is imperative future advanced practice nurses have the ability to guide patients in evaluating what they read online. Can these sources provide reliable and appropriate medical advice?

In this era of abundant and accessible health information especially through health portals and websites, Unvalidated Sources of Health Information (USHI) like health information presented through social network sites (SNS), blogs, forums, private websites and the likes, also pervade the web. Many times, the information on these platforms are incomplete, incorrect, outdated or plainly misleading and can be perilous to their consumers [1]. Patients, relatives of patients, or friends of patients utilize these platforms for a plethora of reasons ranging from guidance on major and minor health decisions to the desire for support from other users [30]. Support, as used here, could be emotional, social or financial and is usually gained by patients

First and foremost, social media can be great health surveillance to the public since it often complement the information gathered by the professionals that provides a better understanding on healthcare and diseases. As what Gary W. Lawson mentions in his article, "social media plays a vital role during a health crisis because people are in search of the cure, the signs of symptoms, management, and all other information that they can learn to be better informed about a specific disease”. This set of online communication helps in not only encouraging healthy lifestyle, but it also function as a medium in providing information in the risk of a particular disease and steps of prevention. Data page from the official organization websites or news

Unvalidated Sources of Health Information (USHI) like health information presented through social network sites (SNS), blogs, forums, private websites and the likes proliferate the internet. Many times, the information on these platforms are incomplete, incorrect, outdated or plainly misleading and can be perilous to their consumers [1]. Patients, relatives of patients, or friends of patients utilize these platforms for a plethora of reasons ranging from guidance on major and minor health decisions to the desire for support from other users [30]. Support, as used here, could be emotional, social or financial and is usually gained by patients through the sharing of their personal medical issues, asking questions or sharing of

The health care community has come a long way with introducing technology in such a world that is to remain private. It has opened many doors of convenience for all health care employees. It allows easy access, legible readiness, fingertip readiness and more. Lots of providers and nurses rely on their cell phones and computers when doing patient care, especially at the bedside. You can calculate a quick formula, or look up a new medication and see how it can be added to the plan of care and more. Social media is also used in many ways, especially with advertising. Hospitals, clinics, and many stand alone healthcare facilities advertise through social media for new clientele, new products that they may be offering, or to simply get their business “out there”. But sometimes social media and cell phones can fail us when it is used for reasons other than benefiting the patient. There are laws in place that prohibit healthcare employees from sharing private and personal information that are identifying markers of the patient themselves. Their care and information is to be protected at all times. Here in the scenario a nurse missed a concert of her favorite band. Toward the end of her shift she receives a trauma patient who just so happens to be the lead singer of this band. She in turns takes pictures of him and his home address and other contact info and sends it to her friend who was able to make the show. There are so many things wrong with this scenario. My goal in further

At the same time, health care organizations find challenges in adopting social media. Hospital and medical practices are risk adverse and generally cautious about new technology trends without clear value. There are questions about whether social media use by hospital employees is a waste of time, or even worse, presents risks of violating HIPAA or leaking proprietary information. Hospital IT departments are concerned about security risks, such as the use of tinyurl.com, which can mask malicious Web sites. Privacy concerns, particularly the vulnerability of social media accounts, are also cited as a reason to avoid social media. (John Sharp 2010).