The Negative Use Of Smartphones And Social Media Use In Healthcare

The use of mobile technology in the healthcare industry has exploded in the last ten years. Mobile health or mHealth, provides an entire new aspect of the relationship between patients and their doctors and other medical providers. Mobile devices place important and critical information into a medical professional’s hands in real-time. Doctors can monitor a patient’s condition more frequently, allowing them to make better and more informed decisions and diagnoses.

While advancements in technology have positively impacted the nursing field, it has also created huge concerns with patient privacy and sharing of protected health information leading to detrimental effects to patients and their families. Indeed, technology is changing the face of healthcare with positive innovations to reduce medication errors and documentation errors. However, technology at our fingertips has created immense concerns with sharing of protected health information of patients via social media, email and other means of communication via technology. This paper addresses why I feel the advancement of technology has numerous deficits that need more research and implementation of new laws and policies to safeguard the

Mhealth has reached the poorest of communities (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). More than 9 million patients email their physician in 2009 (Digital Health Care, 2010), because patients’ busy lifestyles do not allow time for an office visit for non-emergent health conditions. . In recent years, the expansion of mobile health (mhealth) technologies, including health text messaging, mobile phone applications, remote monitoring, and portable sensors, have changed the way health care is being delivered in the U.S. and globally (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). Patients like the convenience of communicating with his or her physician through advanced technology.

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.

Unfortunately, along with the good must come the bad. For every positive aspect of smartphones and social media in healthcare related settings, there is an equally negative aspect. One pitfall of smartphones in healthcare is directly related to one of the positive aspects of smartphones: the availability of medical

Social websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the use of smartphones have quickly integrated themselves into our everyday lifestyle. With the constant advancement of technology, it is no surprise that this trend has affected not only the personal lives of user 's but also their work environment as well. It is important that future healthcare workers understand the many rewards and challenges technology can bring to the workplace.

Social media has taken over the way that we interact with one another. It is leading the way in which we communicate with family, friends, coworkers and strangers. It is also the way we keep up with our favorite celebrities and gossip. Social media and the use of smartphones are becoming more prevalent in business and the healthcare field as well. According to Pew Research Center, “62% of smartphone owners have used their phone in the past year to look up information about a health condition” (April, 2015). Technology, just like all things come with flaws

……A recent survey by Kluwer Kluwer Health’s Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 71% of nurses are using smartphones for their job. It’s becoming the norm in the nursing workplace nowadays and the range of phone apps are moving beyond leisure. It’s not an exaggeration to say that smartphones are moving the nursing practice into a much greater height. From drug references, medication interaction disease, laboratory and safety information, nurses have access to all kinds of data to help them improve patient care.

In the present culture of the United States, social media has had a major impact in American society. It has a profound influence and intertwined itself in almost every aspect of the average American’s life. It ranges from providing updates of location of a person(s), events, and sharing personal moments. Even different industries are utilizing social media as a platform for communication, information, and sales mediums. One industry, the health care field has seen a rise in the utilization of social media. For instance, an emerging population of physicians are using social media apps such as Snap Chat, Facebook, and YouTube to educate, display surgical, and medical procedures while being performed. In contrast, as there are positive aspects of utilizing social media, a negative trait of social media is invading and exposing individual’s privacy. As of recent, a New York licensed nurse had to surrender her nursing license and sentenced to 3 years of probation for “moral unfitness in the practice (Bowerman, 2016).” She took photos with her phone of two unconscious male patient’s genitalia and shared them with coworkers. This has become an increasing issue and as the utilization of social media in healthcare is increasing, many ethical issues are developing. For instance, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was passed for the adoption of a national standard for electronic health care transactions and code sets, unique health identifiers,

The rapid development of technology throughout modern society has initiated the widespread use of social networking. Social networking plays a positive role in healthcare when educating, communicating, or advertising. However, poor judgments have the power to turn this positive into negative and damage professional reputations. Griffith (2014) stresses the importance of understanding that protected health information is not a matter of open secrets. Whether a lawyer, doctor, nurse, or a secretary, it is important to avoid conditions that may influence the health and security of patients or clients, as well as their own professional reputation (Aylott, 2011). The Purpose of this paper is to explore the appropriate use of cell phones and social networking in healthcare and the importance of understanding the ethical boundaries between professional uses opposed to personal use.

As you may know social media and texting have become a part of life and we often think of it as for friends, family, and net-working, but what about doctors and nurses using their phones to text or take pictures of your vital information. How are we as consumers protected? Let’s see what HIPAA has to say about doctors and nurses using phones to text, take a picture, or use the social media to transfer information.

Another drawback of smartphone and social media use in healthcare is the negative repercussions of breach of patient confidentiality. To follow with HIPAA Privacy Rule, clinical vignettes posted via web-based media concerning patients must have all individual perceiving information and any uncovering references removed. This “de-identification” should be possible by changing or disposing of key patient components (e.g., names, insurance or Social Security numbers, date of birth, and photos), by keeping up a vital separation from the portrayal of uncommon therapeutic issues, and by excluding specific time ranges or territories without the patient's consent. In any case, there have been numerous coincidental breaches of HIPAA Privacy Rule involving online networking. A study of medical blogs composed by HCPs found that individual patients were portrayed in 42% of the 271 samples studied. These samples, 17% were found to sufficiently incorporate data for patients to distinguish themselves or their providers, and three included conspicuous photos of the patients (Ventola,

They are being used on the clinical side for communication, access to patient data, access to resources, and diagnostic assistance. On the consumer side, mobile devices can be used in conjunction with health applications to monitor their own health and manage their chronic conditions. One major concern for the use of mobile devices in healthcare is patient privacy and security. There are several steps that can be taken to secure a mobile device against unwanted information leaks, such as ABE. Mobile technology is the catalyst to change the way that healthcare services are delivered in the future by empowering patients, improving the quality of care, and reducing healthcare

“Social media have invaded health care from at least three fronts: innovative startups, patient communities and medical centers” (John Sharp 2010). The Social Media arena helps the health care system for their planning strategy and their marketing. However, their use is very controversial. There is a discussion about the use of social media in the healthcare settings due to its vulnerability. Even though social media is important for the healthcare development, the security issues will remain big concerns for the healthcare system.

What are some ways that cell phones and social media contribute to accidents, injuries, and violations to the nurses, faculty, and patients? Cell phones and social media are hazardous in our everyday lives, as well as the use of them in hospitals and nursing homes. Would you want a nurse to take care of you that’s on his or her cell phone laughing, grinning, and talking about or looking at Facebook while injecting a shot into your arm? Neither would I.